Stanislaus County leaders approve design for 288-bed jail center
Stanislaus County supervisors on Tuesday approved the design for a rehabilitation center that will allow the county to close the dilapidated men’s jail in downtown Modesto.
The center, with 288 beds and program facilities, will be built on 3.6 acres on Hackett Road in west Ceres, between the Public Safety Center and the county animal shelter. The $44.7 million project is a capstone on the county’s campaign to expand and modernize its jail facilities.
The state has contributed $40 million for the project. Local funds will cover the balance. The plans include an administration building, jail housing, classrooms, a multipurpose room and counseling space for programs intended to prepare inmates for life outside prison walls so they are not incarcerated again.
David Crotty, project manager for the Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum architectural firm, said the buildings are designed with a softer look than traditional lockups. The jail housing will have day rooms with lightweight furniture and seating areas that feel more like a living room.
The county expects to choose a construction contractor in the winter. Construction is slated to begin in spring 2016. The center could be completed and occupied in the first half of 2018.
The additional beds will enable the county to stop housing prisoners in the downtown jail. Sheriff’s personnel transferred from downtown Modesto will manage the inmates in the new center, called the Re-entry and Enhanced Alternatives to Custody Training center, or REACT.
Patty Hill Thomas, chief operations officer for the county, said the downtown jail will serve as a holding facility for the criminal courts until the new courthouse is built. A community effort will spawn ideas for future use of the old courthouse block, she said.
In August, county officials marked the start of construction on two maximum-security units to add 480 jail beds at the Public Safety Center on Hackett Road. That project includes a medical and mental health wing.
The county expects to hold a dedication in August for a Day Reporting Center for probationers at the same complex. Another piece of the expansion is a support facility for intake, release and transportation of prisoners, bringing the total cost for those facilities to $113 million. In 2013, a 192-bed addition to replace the Honor Farm was completed.
The expansion was made possible by the state’s jail construction financing program; it coincides with public safety realignment in California, which places new emphasis on housing lower-level offenders in counties and reforming them.
Supervisors said Tuesday that the county will have facilities and programs for those who want to break the cycle of crime and jail cells for those who don’t.
Ken Carlson: 209-578-2321
Board of Supervisors Watch
The Board of Supervisors took the following action Tuesday:
- Approved an agreement with the State Water Resources Control Board and California State University, Sacramento, to help develop a regional groundwater coordinating committee. The county’s Water Advisory Committee recommended the committee to coordinate the activities of groundwater sustainability agencies in the county. The agencies are mandated by state law to implement plans for managing specific groundwater basins.
- OK’d a deal to reduce the Fink Road landfill tipping fee for Modesto from $33 per ton to $26. It mirrors agreements approved last month that lowered the tipping fee for other cities.
This story was originally published June 30, 2015 at 12:55 PM with the headline "Stanislaus County leaders approve design for 288-bed jail center."