Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office moves inmates to new jail
Tuolumne County Sheriff Bill Pooley had some words of advice for his staff Saturday morning as they began the process of moving all 105 inmates to the new $51 million jail at the Law and Justice Center in Sonora.
“I told them it’s going to be a long, hard-working day, but take a moment to enjoy it, because it’s a piece of our history at the Sheriff’s Office,” he said on Monday while standing outside the Sheriff J.H. “Jack” Dambacher Detention Center.
Sheriff ’s Office personnel began moving the inmates from the old jail on Yaney Avenue
in downtown Sonora at 7 a.m. Saturday and ended at 3:30 p.m.
Up to six inmates at a time were transported by van to the new jail, located off Old Wards Ferry Road, though Pooley noted that some trips could only be one inmate at a time
due to their security classification.
Pooley said the original plan was to bring the inmates over in buses all at once, but staff had to make adjustments due to the COVID-19 pandemic and separation requirements to prevent an outbreak at the jail.
“Staff had everything painstakingly planned out,” he said. “Fortunately, there were also no issues with inmates.”
The pandemic is also why the inmate population was less than the 147 beds available at the old jail.
While the new jail has 230 beds and was constructed in part to increase the number of inmates that can be held in custody, Pooley said they will be keeping their numbers down for the near future due to the pandemic.
“When they are under our care and custody, it’s our responsibility to make sure they don’t get sick,” he said. “Having a few less in custody allows us to do that.”
Pooley said he sent a letter on Monday to the California Board of State and Community Corrections officially declaring that the old jail was closed and inmates would no longer be housed there. He also notified all law enforcement agencies Saturday night to bring anyone they have in custody to the new jail moving forward.
The new jail was completed in October and took more than two years to construct, though its development began in the early 1990s and has spanned multiple sheriffs, boards of supervisors and county administrators.
“I’m lucky to be the sheriff at the time of this opening, but the credit really goes to all of the past sheriffs and CAOS (county administrative officers) who got us here,” said Pooley, who was elected to the position after running unopposed in the June 2018 primary election.
Pooley said that the staff was also “very excited” to finally be in the new jail, where their working conditions will be vastly improved than those at one on Yaney Avenue that was built in 1960 and expanded several times over the years.
Grand juries and state officials for years criticized the old jail as outdated, cramped, and a safety hazard for both inmates and staff.
Some of the problems observed at the old jail due to the lack space and age of the building included former storage closets converted into unventilated offices for staff and sewage leaking from pipes into the locker rooms for jail deputies.
Pooley said there have been some minor glitches with the building and processes, but that was to be expected considering everything at the jail is all new and state of the art.
“It’s an adjustment for staff, but they’re really taking it all in stride,” he said.
What will ultimately become of the old jail is still being determined by county officials, but Pooley said his office may use it for storage in the short term.
The new jail is named after John Henry “Jack” Dambacher, whose tenure as sheriff from 1922 to 1946 is the longest in county history.
Dambacher was well known throughout the county by his nickname “The Black Hat” after his iconic headwear.