Sacramento County risks losing control of its two jails to a court-appointed receiver if it doesn’t improve detention conditions, a grand jury warned in a report published Friday.
The Sacramento County Grand Jury report comes three years after a federal court approved a class-action lawsuit settlement known as the Mays Consent Decree.
Through the decree, the county agreed to comply with constitutional standards and the Americans with Disabilities Act in its two jails. Improvements it committed to include expanding mental health services and suicide prevention systems.
But the grand jury found the county has delayed making the required changes, echoing assessments from court-appointed experts who have monitored compliance with the consent decree. Grand jury foreperson Norv Wellsfry said the main jail located downtown especially isn’t set up to meet incarcerated people’s health needs and patient privacy laws.
“These people deserve to be treated in a humane manner and [the county] can't do it in the facility that they have now,” Wellsfry said. “They need a different space.”
The Board of Supervisors in December approved a $450 million proposal to expand the main jail by building an annex for intake and health services. At the time, supervisors said the expansion would help the county comply with the consent decree.
Wellsfry said the grand jury believes the expansion is needed, but recommends the county take immediate steps to improve conditions to reduce the risk of federal receivership. Designing and constructing the annex could take five years, the jury reported.
Recommendations the jury made include adding medical trailers to the main jail parking garage to help meet federal privacy and disability law requirements. The jury also suggested the sheriff’s department create a non-sworn position to oversee compliance with the consent decree. The department currently rotates jail leadership every two years, Wellsfry said.
“By having a non-sworn executive person doing the oversight, you don't run into that revolving door rotation process,” Wellsfry said. “You get somebody who can more consistently and objectively look at what needs to be done to implement the consent decree.”
State law requires the grand jury to annually ask about conditions and management at public confinement facilities. The jury toured both the main jail and the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center in Elk Grove before starting the investigation, Wellsfry said.
Members of the jury also reviewed 18 consultant and court-appointed expert reports, which contained more than 200 recommendations to help meet consent decree requirements. They found the county has ignored recommendations dealing with sanitation and staffing deficiencies, as well as oversight leadership.
County spokesperson Kim Nava said the county has made progress in following remedial plans, such as by increasing pretrial and outpatient programs. The county has detailed such programs in its jail population reduction plan.
“The County acknowledges that more work is needed,” Nava said in an emailed statement. “Out-of-cell time, booking time, and treatment compliance is difficult to non-feasible within the current facility. Plans for a new facility and facility renovations will address those issues and will improve conditions to better treat acute (intensive) and subacute (rehabilitation/recovery) mental health services.”
The county board and Sheriff Jim Cooper are required to formally respond to the grand jury report by mid-August.
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