Board puts offer on new North County jail site

 

 

The new North County Jail property will cost the County of Santa Barbara over $3 million, a chunk of change that likely will be dwarfed by the jail’s estimated total cost.

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved the county’s purchase of a 50-acre parcel at the southwest corner of Black and Betteravia Roads in Santa Maria. The property currently is owned by Agland Venture Capital Group Inc. On April 22 the board discussed ways to amend a budget revision to accommodate the purchase of the property. The property is costing the county $3,270,000. The money will be used for a deposit with the courts in order to acquire the property. Local funding for the project will come from various funds, including $2,000,000 from the Capital Designation fund, $335,000 from the county’s Strategic Reserve and $935,000 from the Sheriff’s designated funds.

 

The board’s decision follows a series of North County jail hearings in which the board discussed and decided to move forward with the plans of building a new jail. More recently, the county declared its intention to acquire the property by exercising eminent domain, a move that has gone uncontested.

William Boyer, communications director for the County of Santa Barbara, called the eminent domain action “a friendly takeover.”

The board’s recent action is just one of many decisions it’s made to proceed with a partnership with the state to build a new North County Jail, which was first approved by the board on February 12.

The county submitted its application in March to receive state funds under Assembly Bill 900, which allows counties to apply for a portion of $1.2 billion for the construction or expansion of county jails.

 

The county of Santa Barbara has requested that the state contribute $57.4 million to the total estimated $79.6 million cost of the project. The new jail is a 304-bed Type II jail facility, which includes a State Retry Facility that will be run by county employees and house Santa Barbara county residents who wish to enter rehabilitation programs such as job training and education.

Public Information Officer Alex Tipolt said that the Sheriff’s department just gave a presentation to the Corrections Standards Authority and should know sometime in May if the county will be awarded the grant. The Corrections Standards Authority is facilitating the grant process along with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.