Lack of Funds Could Sharply Reduce Size of Proposed Jail

Ventura County may be forced by a lack of funds to build a 200-bed jail in 1990 instead of the 768-bed facility that it had proposed, a move that officials say would guarantee crowding in the county’s jails for years to come.

The county needs $65 million to $70 million to build the larger jail and expects to fall short by $25 million to $30 million, said jail project coordinator Dave Robertson, a county administrative analyst.

“This is a statewide problem, and we all have to lower our sights a bit for the good of all counties,” Robertson said.

He said that even construction of the 768-bed facility “would not get us up to speed; we’ll still be behind on our current needs.”

In January, a committee chosen by state corrections and county government groups will allocate among 50 California counties about $325 million in state funds from Proposition 86, the jail construction bond approved last month by the state’s voters.

However, the state Board of Corrections said in a report to the Legislature last year that the counties need more than $1 billion to build new jails or improve existing ones.

With only about one-third of that amount available, each county can expect to receive just one-third of the state money it needs for jail improvements, said Neil Zinn, a Board of Corrections spokesman.

$41 Million Needed

The board pegged Ventura County’s need at about $41 million, but, if Zinn’s estimate is accurate, the county might receive no more than $12 million to $14 million.

In addition, the county is to receive $16 million from other state propositions and about $8 million to $10 million from the Board of Supervisors. But that totals only about $38 million to $40 million -- little more than half the sum needed to build a 768-bed jail.

“Ventura County is in the same situation as every other county,” said Fred Campbell, a consultant with the Criminal Justice Research Foundation, a nonprofit research group in Sacramento. “The tough problem is going to be how you allocate a small amount of money with the jail needs throughout all counties in excess of $1 billion.”

Ventura County has 933 beds at locations that include the County Jail at the Government Center in East Ventura, the Sheriff’s Honor Farm at Ojai, the East Valley sheriff’s station and a work furlough facility at Camarillo Airport.

But a Board of Corrections report estimates that the county must add 962 beds in the coming years to handle increasing numbers of inmates.

The County Jail, for instance, was built in 1980 to hold 400 inmates but at times holds more than 1,000, according to Don Lanquist, custody division commander for the Sheriff’s Department. He said two prisoners share 70-square-foot jail cells meant for one inmate, and some prisoners sleep on bunks in day rooms due to the lack of space.

“We haven’t gotten into the situation that L.A. County has with release of misdemeanor inmates,” Lanquist said, referring to a court order in which a Los Angeles judge ordered some prisoners released up to 13 days early because of crowding. However, “if we don’t build a facility, that’s a definite possibility.”

The county’s jail population increased 115% between 1976 and 1986, according to the Board of Corrections.

Still, Ventura County’s inmate population growth is lower than the state average, which grew 148% during the same decade.

In Los Angeles County, for instance, 22,513 jail inmates share space meant for 12,312. Prisoners sometimes must sleep on pews in the two chapels of the Central Jail, and sick inmates must triple-bunk in sick rooms because the jail hospital is full.

Although Ventura County’s problem isn’t nearly as severe, corrections officials still have their hands full. In addition to grappling with limited funds and a scaled-down jail, Ventura County in the coming months must decide whether to build the facility at Hueneme Road near Oxnard or at Toland Park near Santa Paula.

Jail construction must begin by September, 1990, for the county to qualify for $16 million in funds from Proposition 52, which was passed in 1986. That puts the county on an extraordinarily tight deadline, considering that the site for the jail has not been selected and the funds have not been secured, Robertson said.

Preferred Site

In 1987, a county committee that included two supervisors picked 100 acres of farmland south of Hueneme and Nauman roads as the preferred jail site, a decision that angered Oxnard city officials, who want a resort developed at nearby Ormond Beach.

And one supervisor, John Flynn of Oxnard, has said the county should scrap plans for a second jail altogether in favor of expanding the Ventura County Government Center jail. Some corrections officials say this is impractical because of space limitations there.

Ventura County added Toland Park to its study last year after passage of a state law requiring counties to assess at least two locations to qualify for state jail construction funds.

An environmental impact report, which was prepared by WESTEC Services of Santa Barbara and released last week, stopped short of recommending either site, but listed several “significant” problems with the Hueneme Road site.

Chief among them was that building a jail on Hueneme Road would convert 100 acres of prime agricultural land, now planted in lettuce and broccoli, to a non-agricultural use and lead to the cancellation of several California Land Conservation Act agreements, which give farmers tax breaks in return for not developing their land.

The report said those cancellations might create a domino effect that eventually would lead nearby farmers to give up agriculture.

In addition, the report said, the Hueneme Road location would subject inmates to excessive noise from takeoffs and landings at nearby Point Mugu, but it pointed out that this problem could be solved by soundproofing the buildings.

The Toland Park site, in contrast, is not used for farming. It is half-a-mile north of California 126 in the Santa Clara River Valley on a county-owned site largely overgrown with chaparral.

If Ventura County opts to build the jail at Toland Park, the report calls for setting aside similar acreage for park use in another part of the county.

Regardless of which site it chooses, the county envisions a jail complex of six 2-story modular buildings spread out over 20 acres, with 80 acres remaining undeveloped. The jail is to be a medium-security facility that eventually could house as many as 2,000 inmates.

Robertson said the county might at first construct a 200-bed facility of “building-block design” that would permit future expansion.

Adding more beds won’t be cheap. The Board of Corrections estimates jail costs at $30,000 per minimum-security bed and $70,000 per medium- or maximum-security bed.

County officials have discussed several ways to get additional money for jails, including issuing general obligation bonds or increasing the sales tax and applying the difference toward the new jail.

However, “we’re not in any position to do anything until we find out how much money we have,” said Robertson.