Jail Bed Debate at Santa Barbara County Supervisors’ on Tuesday

Overcrowding, Mental Health, Construction and Operation Costs, and Custody Deputy Numbers on the Table

The Behavioral Wellness Commission met on March 19 with members of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice, Santa Barbara to discuss alternatives to additional jail housing ahead of the supervisors' meeting set for April 1. | Credit: Elijah Valerjev

A highly anticipated meeting regarding Santa Barbara County’s jails is set to take place on April 1 during which law enforcement, mental health representatives, and county supervisors will discuss — and the supervisors vote — on how to address the problem of overcrowding in the South and North County jails. Of the solutions offered in a number of reports, some call it jail expansion, while others say jail relocation.

Inmates have suffered inhumane conditions in the South County jail for many years; in the past, some convicted inmates had to sleep on the floor. A staff report from the County Executive Office proposes three options — all of which include increasing more beds at the jail in North County — by constructing one, one-and-a-half, or two additional housing units. Each unit holds 256 beds.

The Sheriff’s View

Describing his proposal as a relocation, Sheriff Bill Brown’s report states two new jail housing units are necessary, for a count of 512 beds. Of the current 728 beds county-wide, North County has about 376 beds. Two more units would bring the total to 1,004 beds.

The Sheriff’s Report proposes that after the new housing units are completed, the existing main jail, northwest, and medium security facilities in South County will be decommissioned, resulting in a 613-bed reduction. Yet, due to overcrowding and issues with inmate compatibility, the Sheriff’s Report states that options one and two do not humanely or legally house the current or future jail populations; the report advocates for option three. Option one would reduce the systemwide bed count by 357 beds, option two by 229 beds, and option three by 101 beds.

Much of the concern about expansion deals with the uncertainty of future populations. The report projects that the daily jail population will average 858 by 2027, with the fluctuation of increased felony stays and decreased misdemeanor stays. A 2024 projection report revealed that the inmate population has been stable since 2021 with an average of 750 inmates, and is projected to increase by 9.4 percent from 2025 to 2035.

Staffing the added beds has also been a question mark for the additional units. According to a Staffing Report conducted February 24, 2025, option one will require 190 new full-time employees, option two 210, and option three 224.

Mental Health and Incarceration

But mental health is also intertwined with who is in jail. There is fear that additional units will prolong the cycle of incarceration rather than providing more external resources for inmates that would allow them to effectively reenter society. A Behavioral Wellness Commission meeting last week included speakers Laurence Severance and Maureen Earls, who led a discussion on the need for alternative community housing opportunities instead of more jail funding. Aside from spacing issues, they cited that 60 percent of the entire jail population need mental health services, and more than 87 individuals deal with serious mental health issues including substance use.

Cheryl Smith, a community member observing the meeting, shared how her 39-year-old son has been in and out of the county jail since 2022 and has had more than 135 hearings in the last two-and-a-half years. She believes he keeps committing crimes since his life on the streets is dangerous, and she urged for more effective diversion programs. “He has now acquired a SUD [substance use disorder] and is dual-diagnosed. His situation will not be improved by adding more jail beds,” said Smith.

According to Earls, in 2023 it cost $76 million to add one housing unit to the jail, a cost that the CEO’s report states has now risen to at least $120 million. It also costs $332/day to house somebody in jail. Expanding the jails would come out of the county’s General Fund, which Severance said already has a projected deficit for 2025, though grants have been issued in the past and are being sought for the project.

Other mental health advocates at the meeting referenced a 2021 grand jury report on the jail. Between 2020 and 2021, the report found, after the release of 1,900 inmates there was no significant increase in crime. This conclusion was based on a 15 percent reduction in nonviolent crime and a 7 percent increase in violent crime.

Yet, Jamie Huthsing, assistant director at the county’s Behavioral Wellness department, said BWell could not provide more services due to the manner of funding. Oversight by the Sheriff’s Office comes first once people are in jail custody. Additionally, the Sheriff’s Office has a history of mandatory staff overtime exceeding its budget by as much as 200 percent. This stirred questions at the meeting as to how staffing would play out with the addition of more beds, persistent limited staffing can lead to higher expenses to fill the roles.

The gathering agreed they would favor a delay of the jail expansion notion of North County Jail and ask the supervisors to look into community infrastructure alternatives.

“We are at a critical crossroads — do all these people really need to be in jail for public safety?” asked Severance. “The goal of criminal justice is to build good neighbors. We either speak up now or lose the opportunity to create a better model.”

Correction: This story was changed on March 31 to reflect the general nature of the discussion of staff funding.