Supervisors OK new purchase for Sobering Center building

SANTA CRUZ >> The return of a long-absent recovery center may be on the near horizon.

On Tuesday, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted to authorize the $350,000 purchase and installation of a new modular building to house and operate the Sheriff's Office Sobering Center program. In past years, the 10-bed facility traditionally eased jail overcrowding by offering a place for individuals accused of public drunkenness to stay while sobering up. Upon release — generally when the individuals would be charged with a misdemeanor — the short-term detainees were offered resources and referrals for treatment.

“This is a much-needed resource in the community and it will be good to get that back,” Board Chairman Manu Koenig said before the expenditure was passed unanimously on the agenda's consent calendar.

The Sobering Center's former home, which opened in May 2015 inside a Victorian home at 265 Water St. in front of the Santa Cruz County Jail, was originally operated through a county contract with Janus of Santa Cruz. When the coronavirus pandemic broke out in March 2020, the program was shuttered and the building eventually boarded up. Then, in Decemer 2020, a fire broke out, leaving the building unusable. Several individuals were illegally inside the building at the time and one was killed in the blaze, according to fire agency reports. Funding for the modular building's purchase will come from insurance settlement payments for the destroyed building, according to a country report.

Sheriff's Office spokesperson Ashley Keehn said Tuesday that the space to revive the sobering center would be welcomed by her agency, having served as a needed resource for law enforcement and the community in past years. In 2019, the Sheriff's Office diverted 1,827 from its jail to the center.

“The booking process can take up to 45 minutes to an hour depending on how many people are being booked at the time and the Recovery Center typically takes 5-10 minutes,” Keehn elaborated. “This gets our deputies back on the streets quicker and saves our corrections staff time when it comes to booking and release.”