Expanding existing jail one option for new Shasta County rehabilitation center

Shasta County Jail on June 12, 2020
Shasta County Jail on June 12, 2020

Shasta County might not have to look far to build a new jail.

Acting County Executive Officer Patrick Minturn has mapped out an alternative that would expand the existing jail by incorporating the current Shasta County Courthouse, which will be vacated early next year when the new courthouse across the street opens.

An expansion could save the county on the cost to build a new jail and rehabilitation center that Minturn says could cost up to $400 million for an 800-bed facility, which he characterizes as realistically meeting the county’s future needs.

“One advantage of the existing site is we might be able to add the already 480 (jail) beds in service. So, when you add 200 to 300 beds to the existing location, now you get more in the ballpark, something more affordable,” Minturn said. “These are the kinds of numbers (to consider). We need to go in with our eyes wide open to what we are looking at here.”

Minturn, though, emphasized that Shasta County supervisors will have the final word on an appropriate site for a new jail.

He will give supervisors an update on the new jail during Tuesday’s board meeting, which starts at 9 a.m.

In May, supervisors voted unanimously to allocate $25 million of the $35 million from the American Recovery Plan Act money the county is receiving toward the construction of a jail.

Supervisors have been told that it would cost $100 million to $125 million for a new jail and rehabilitation center. Former county executive officer Matt Pontes had said the new jail facility could be built with a combination of county general fund dollars, state and federal funds and possibly bond funds.

Minturn said the state budget has a surplus “and part of the plan would be to work with our state elected officials (Assemblywoman Megan Dahle and Senator Brian Dahle) to pursue potential funding for nice things that could be in a new facility, (such as) the more rehabilitative elements."

He added that the state “takes a hard line funding new jail cells. But more progressive elements, they might participate.”

In a report to Shasta County supervisors, Minturn maps out a complex that would stretch from the existing jail to the current courthouse on the west side of Court Street in downtown Redding.

The county owns the properties east of the jail where probation, the public defender and county fleet maintenance operate.

“These facilities serve their present purpose but could readily be replaced nearby. Yuba Street and the alley can be vacated. Taken together, the county owns a large block of land,” Minturn states in his report.

What’s more, all the utilities are in place and there are few apparent environmental obstacles there, Minturn said.

New jails built in California in recent years have cost about $300,000 per bed, but Minturn said those projects were done before the COVID-19 pandemic. Minturn estimates the cost now would be $500,000 per bed.

Talk of a new jail comes at a time when the county can’t keep the current jail fully staffed. Sheriff Michael Johnson in late July had to close one floor of the jail due to critical staffing shortages.

Shasta County Sheriff Michael Johnson describes his proposal for a multifaceted new jail before the Board of Supervisors on March 29.
Shasta County Sheriff Michael Johnson describes his proposal for a multifaceted new jail before the Board of Supervisors on March 29.

When news of the closure broke, the Record Searchlight asked Johnson how the county would be able to get more workers for a bigger jail if it can’t staff the smaller jail it has. He said it depends on whether the new jail is constructed using a new linear design or uses a vertical design, like the one operating now.

Johnson explained a bigger jail with a linear design might need less staff.

“You can design them to supervise more beds and more inmates with less staffing because of how they’re set up, with the pods and the separation and the indirect supervision vs. direct supervision. So, we would be able to do it,” he said.

Johnson added: “Now, if you’re talking about adding on to the current jail, like another proposal that’s coming up — um, good question. I don’t know how. Because you’d still be operating the current jail we have and then an addition to that, which would be more staffing and that would be problematic.”

In early 2017, Shasta County supervisors pulled the plug on a 64-bed jail expansion after concerns were raised that the county did not have the money to operate the facility. That decision was made three months before ground was to be broken on the project.

Reporter Michele Chandler contributed to this story.

David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street" column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta County jail expansion an option for new rehab center