Santa Barbara County has entered a $139 million dollar contract to both design and build an extension to the Northern Branch Jail in Santa Maria.
The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to award the contract to the Montana-based Sletten Construction Company.
Supervisor Joan Hartmann expressed concern over the flexibility of the design, and whether it would meet the needs of inmates.
“We want a jail designed to meet our policies,” Hartmann said. “We have a lot of people who are mentally ill, people with substance use disorders. So clearly, those need to be in the mix as well as public defenders and the DA.”
Hartmann also questioned whether public defenders would have adequate meeting spaces to speak with inmates.
Assistant CEO Tanja Heitman said the county is speaking with multiple departments, including public defenders, to better understand their space needs in the jail extension.
“There is much more work to be done, but this design team coming on board is key in order for us to begin those dialogues with them,” Heitman said.
During a public comment period, multiple speakers expressed concerns over the design of the extension.
Larry Severance spoke as a member of the group Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, and requested that the plan “integrate substantial flexibility.”
“If the jail population does fall, as we hope it will, parts of the jail could be placed out of service where no staff are required,” Severance said about the extension.
The new construction would add 384 beds to the Northern Branch Jail.
Last month, a Grand Jury report called for the county’s much older Main Jail in South County to be shut down to reduce staff costs.
In 2020, the county settled a lawsuit over poor conditions in the facility, according to Noozhawk.
