Politics & Government

Murrieta Jail Could Be Expanded As Supervisors Look to Increase Capacity

If Murrieta's county supervisor gets his way, the county will begin constructing additional jailing facilities as soon as possible. 

Supervisor Jeff Stone on Tuesday urged his fellow board of supervisor members to move forward and expedite plans of bringing some 10,000 additional beds to the county by 2050.  In the immediate future, though, he'd like to see us add 4,000 beds within the next six years.

In a proposal presented to the board along with Supervisor Marion Ashley, Stone helped pitch "Incarcerate More Prisoners Responsibly In Satisfying Overwhelming Need," or IMPRISON, as a way for the county to address a rise in crime due to the release of inmates for whom there is no space. 

“It’s not good policy when you have no deterrence to crime,” Stone said.  “There needs to be consequences to crime, and that is that you should have to fulfill your full sentences in going to our local jails.”

Ashley and Stone worried about the lack of sufficient correctional space to house recidivists contributing to current jail overcrowding -- a condition largely blamed on Assembly Bill 109, the Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011.  Under the law, those convicted of "non-serious, non-violent" felonies that do not stem from a sex crime are to serve their sentences in local detention facilities. 

Proponents of realignment suggested that jail sentences would be capped at three years, but that has not held true. Some convicts in local facilities are serving terms in excess of 10 years.AB 109 also made counties responsible for prosecuting and, often, incarcerating parole violators.

“Because we don’t have the appropriate infrastructure in place, AB 109 has been somewhat of a catastrophe for this county as we’ve seen violent crime and crimes in general going up not only in the unincorporated areas, but in the cities," Stone said.  "I attribute a lot of that increase to releasing dangerous people out into our cities and into our unincorporated areas and into our neighborhoods, unfortunately, before people complete their sentences.”

The IMPRISON Plan

"This is a potential roadmap with different paths that we can take to get jail capacity up," Supervisor Jeff Stone said of the IMPRISON plan. "We are going to need a significant number of jail cells to keep from kicking people out. Let's get jail construction fast-tracked wherever we can."

Currently, Riverside County has a total capacity of 3,906 jail beds, and an additional 4,000 are needed by 2020 or sooner, according to Supervisor Marion Ashley, who cited a recent report from Sheriff Stan Sniff.

With a countywide population that's projected to hit approximately 4.5 million by 2050, we'll need a total of 13,500 beds by that time, Ashley said.

"Right now, we know we need 4,000 beds as fast as we can build them," he said.  “We need to develop a plan for a short, medium and long range capital project to meet these needs to provide for the safety and security of our residents.”

The Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 -- with Supervisor John Tavaglione out sick -- to support the IMPRISON proposal's call for a priority expansion of the Larry D. Smith facility in Banning and completion of the 1,250-bed expansion of the Indio Jail, or East County Detention Center. 

The immediate goal is to expand the Banning jail by adding onto existing jail wings so there's room for an additional 400 to 1,600 inmate beds, according to the supervisors.  But while the additions to the Banning and Indio jails will add 2,850 beds and address some of the short term needs, Ashley said other expansions will need to be considered in Riverside and in Southwest Riverside County, at Murrieta's Southwest Detention Center.

Southwest Expansion

“We have room for expansion certainly in the Southwest," Stone said.

According to Ashley and Stone, there's room to expand the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta by around 2,000 beds.  However, that could require the acquisition of some land and possibly building a tunnel to connect jailing facilities, Stone said.

Any moves to add onto the Murrieta and Riverside jails would have to be preceded by environmental and site assessments. 

A committee to discuss the logistics of how the county will proceed with all of the possible expansions was formed at Tuesday's meeting, with supervisors Stone and Ashley volunteering to work with county staff on the project.  Those in the committee were asked to report back to the board in 90 days.

"I don't want to make this a nine year project," Supervisor John Benoit said.

"We need a master plan," County CEO Jay Orr told the board.  "This is going to be quite an undertaking.”

In 2012, the sheriff released nearly 7,000 "low-level" inmates early for lack of space. Under a two-decade-old federal court order, the county must have a bed for each detainee or let some of them go. They're known as federal "kickouts."

Other County Jailing Expansions

In a separate motion, the board approved an IMPRISON companion proposal to renew a subvention agreement with the city of Banning to offset impacts stemming from enlargement of the Smith jail.

The city would receive $450,000 a year, with an annual inflation adjustment of up to 3 percent.

A formal contract has to be drawn up, and the Banning City Council must review it. But Mayor Debbie Franklin said there won't be any contentions.

"We have a mutual desire to invest in the public safety and welfare," she told the board. 

Groundbreaking for the Indio jail is expected in the coming months, though the facility will not be finished before October 2016, according to county officials.


–City News Service contributed to this report.


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