San Luis Obispo County just unveiled a new, $40 million probation building.
The building replaces the Probation Department’s old office that was built more than 80 years ago.
Tom Milder, SLO County’s Chief Probation Officer, says his office has grown a lot in the many decades since they moved into the old office building.
“ We've been in three different offices, one for the past 55 years,” Milder told KCBX.
The new, two-story office space is 34,000 square feet, almost three times the size of the old location.
The role of the Probation Department has grown over the last several years.
California has transferred control of juvenile justice from the state-level to county probation departments, with the state’s Division of Juvenile Justice shutting down in 2023.
Milder says the SLO County Probation Department has also taken on pre-trial responsibilities for the court.
He says that the old building was no longer able to house all staff and department activities.
“The responsibility that we have now far exceeds the responsibility that we had when we moved into [that] building,” Milder said.
The hope is that now that with the department’s office space consolidated, services will be more efficient for staff and people on probation.
The SLO County Board of Supervisors voted to contract with F&H Construction to build the office in 2023. The project broke ground in 2024.
Milder says probation staff will move into the new office over the next four weeks, and after that the old building will be torn down.
