One week after the supervisors spent seven hours debating whether to spend more money on jail cells or diversion programs, District Attorney John Savrnoch issued a press release noting that a serial arsonist had been granted a mental-health diversion over the objections of his department.
Last June, Santa Maria resident Rockie Daren Ginter set a home owned by his parents in Orcutt on fire, pouring gas from a gas can onto their carpet and then lighting it. The house sustained serious damage. In fact, the house exploded as first responders arrived. Ginter shared the home with a roommate. The roommate was not inside at the time.
In 2006, Ginter had been convicted of setting his condo on fire using an accelerant. As a result, he was forced to register as a convicted arsonist. He was placed in mental-health treatment and was closely supervised for five years by the county’s mental health treatment court.
In the most recent case, Ginter’s attorney petitioned the court for a mental-health diversion, noting that the prior conviction was 20 years in the past and that he had responded well to treatment.
Prosecuting attorney Madison Whitmore opposed the diversion petition, arguing that he was not a suitable candidate because of his priors. Whitmore noted Ginter had stopped taking his medications and that he had been taking methamphetamines. He posed a safety risk, she argued to Judge Denise Hippach.
The judge disagreed and ruled Ginter was both eligible and suitable. Translated, that means Ginter will be released into a community-based treatment program and will be supervised by the mental health court for two years. If he successfully completes this program, charges will be dropped and the case dismissed. If not, he is looking at a maximum sentence of 31 years.
During last week’s supervisors’ hearing, the supervisors heard many impassioned objections that the county jail has become a de facto mental health institution, a function it is not equipped to serve. Rather than spend hundreds of millions more on additional jail beds, the supervisors were told, they should invest more in diversion programs where mentally ill inmates can get treatment rather than incarceration. They also heard how jail population fluctuates based on forces well beyond the control of the supervisors and even that of the Sheriff’s Office, which administers the jail. The supervisors ultimately voted 3-2 to spend more than $200 million on a massive jail construction and remodel project that will dramatically reduce the number of jail beds at the county’s Main Jail while dramatically expanding the number of beds at the Northern Branch Jail.
