Advocacy Groups Critical Of State Board's Spending On Jail Construction
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Sixteen different California advocacy groups are criticizing the way a state board is distributing $500 million for construction of local jails.
The groups said before a key vote Wednesday that decisions made by a Board of State and Community Corrections committee could allow counties to use the money to replace aging, crowded or unsafe jails instead of doing what lawmakers who approved the money a year ago intended: adding new space for rehabilitation and treatment programs.
The board also is failing to require counties to prove that they have the money to operate the jails once they open, the groups said in a letter to the board. For instance, it is not enough for a county to say it would use the money for classroom space, the groups said. County officials should be required to provide cost projections and show that they can hire teachers, the groups said.
The groups want the board to make changes before it adopts a document that counties will use to apply for the money in coming weeks.
The awards and resulting new facilities "have the potential to transform our local criminal justice system by informing the type of facilities we will have for the next generation," Steven Meinrath, an advocate for the American Civil Liberties Union, said before the meeting. "The type of facilities that we have can largely determine the type of programs that are available, whether we in fact emphasize programming and treatment as the legislation calls for."
Other groups signing the letter include the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, American Friends Service Committee, Children's Defense Fund-California, and Alliance for Boys and Men of Color.
The document was crafted by a 10-member board-appointed committee that is dominated by sheriffs and other county officials. The advocacy groups said the committee did not allow enough public review because it released drafts of the document only moments before hearings began, too late for the public to provide informed comments.
Some groups previously said the board should delay a vote entirely until it can gauge whether a voter-approved Proposition 47 will change the need for more jail space by reducing some criminal penalties.
Magi Work, a deputy director who oversees the state board's construction division, said the committee held four hearings where the public could speak. She expects counties to apply for money to build rehabilitation space rather than to add new cells.
"There's a lot of things built into the legislation that I really think prevent locals from just building jails," she said in an interview before the meeting.
Cory Salzillo, a spokesman for the California State Sheriffs' Association, said counties could seek to both replace antiquated jails and add treatment or classroom space.
"Those two things aren't mutually exclusive," he said. However, he said counties are unlikely to seek a net increase in jail cells.
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