Plans for new S.J. jail are moving forward
STOCKTON — Law-enforcement officials for years have said that San Joaquin County needs a new medium-security jail at its French Camp complex off Matthews Road.
Now, after several hiccups and false starts, it appears as if the goal will be realized by 2021.
The Board of Supervisors listened Tuesday morning to a presentation on the planned new facility by architects and members of the San Joaquin County Sheriff ’s Office. Incoming Sheriff Pat Withrow was on hand, too, and after watching the presentation he said he liked what he saw.
“It’s really well thought-out,” said Withrow, who will take office in January after defeating incumbent Sheriff Steve Moore in the June election. “This should do a really good job of being a secure facility.”
Withrow said the current minimum-security Honor Farm facility, which opened 69 years ago, has been “kind of a sieve for us,” referring to numerous reported instances of inmates walking off the facility. He said he is confident the new facility will eliminate the problem.
The county’s efforts to build a new jail date back years.
Through his 11-plus years as sheriff, Moore listed a new facility as a top priority. But in 2013, the Board of Supervisors turned down $80 million in state funds amid concerns about the cost to the county of running the facility once it opened.
In 2014, the county lost out on $33 million in state funds after neighboring Stanislaus County won an appeal and knocked San Joaquin County out of the running for the grant.
But as Moore completes his third and final term, it appears as if money no longer is an issue. The county has $32.3 million in state funds for the 43,000square-foot jail, which will have 256 beds. Additional county funds are intended to make up the balance, with the finished project costing an estimated $37 million.
The $32.3 million in state funding fell short of the county’s original request from the state for $40 million. Had that request been granted, the new facility would have housed 384 inmates, said David Castagna, the county’s director of capital projects.
Referred to on county documents as the Jail Detention and Program Facility, the new structure is slated to open in July 2021, when Withrow will be 2 1/2 years into his term. Planners say the new facility will be organized in a fashion that promotes rehabilitation of inmates rather than punishment.
When the new jail opens, the Honor Farm will be vacated, possible good news for nonprofit organizations looking for a space to establish residential job-training programs for the homeless.
Ready To Work, a nonprofit, currently is in the formative days of running a residential jobs program for homeless men in unused barracks at the Honor Farm. Seventeen men have enrolled so far, and the capacity is 45.