Design Team Chosen for New Jail

The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously this week to have three contractors conduct the architectural review, engineering, and construction management of the 228-bed wing — known as the STAR Complex — of the planned North County Jail dedicated to recidivism-reducing programs. Those three contractors are also handling the same duties for the main portion of the new jail.

To get the STAR Complex off the ground, Sheriff Bill Brown secured $39 million in state funding for the construction; the county has to pay a 10 percent match. Out of that pot, the county will parcel out no more than approximately $5.5 million combined to the three contractors. Liebert & Associates, in charge of, among other things, the building’s architectural review, will get $299,500. Kitchell, CEM, Inc. will make $2.3 million for construction management, and Rosser International, Inc. will get paid up to $2.8 million for engineering services.

Preliminary plans for the facility will be released in October, with the groundbreaking slated for January 2017 and occupancy for April 2019, about a year after the main portion of the new lock-up is scheduled to open.