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Law and Justice Committee
Part 8
VIII. SAN BENITO COUNTY JAIL AND JUVENILE HALL
BACKGROUND
The Grand Jury made its statutory annual inspection of the San Benito County Jail and Juvenile Hall.
METHOD OF REVIEW
Interviews
Inspections of the Jail and Juvenile Hall
A. San Benito County Jail
The San Benito County Jail is extremely clean and orderly. There is a strictly enforced zero tolerance policy for graffiti, garbage, drugs and fighting. The jail is composed of several pods (wings), which are controlled by a central control room. From this room the officer on duty has the ability to observe all of the pods at one time. Those areas not easily observed are monitored by a video camera and can be seen via a closed circuit TV system. Security appears to be strictly enforced.
Each prisoner is interviewed and evaluated by a trained officer prior to being placed in a pod. Inmates are not charged a fee for housing and do not receive payment for duties performed at the jail. The outer clothing is "color coded" based on the inmate's crime risk with orange being for high risk/felony and beige being for unclassified inmates. All laundry is done "in-house" and each inmate's clothes are dried inside white mesh bags, thereby eliminating the need for sorting, etc.
There is a Food Service Supervisor as well as a cook to supervise the preparation of the food by the inmates. This staff also prepares the meals for the Juvenile Hall inmates. The menus are basically the same for both locations with the exception that the juvenile inmates receive more milk. Individual diet requirements are met, if necessary, because of health, religion, etc. The kitchen is approximately 1500 sq. ft. and is extremely clean and well organized.
The jail has its own nurse on duty from Monday-Friday from 8:30 A.M.-5:30 P.M. She may distribute prescription medications and/or over-the-counter drugs as required. A local dentist provides limited dental assistance. There is a specially equipped dental office as well as a medical office adjacent to the nurse's station. In the event of a medical emergency the inmate is transported to the hospital.
Many of the inmates require psychological evaluation appointments/visits. Currently these inmates must be transported by a correctional officer to the Mental Health Department. Many times there are several inmates requiring treatment/visit, and because the Psychologist is not on site there are additional concerns that must be addressed relative to the transportation/staffing issue. The absence of this officer at the jail compromises the jail security, increases the county's liability and decreases the job availability of this officer.
The Grand Jury learned that the jail staff is comprised of one lieutenant, four sergeants, and eighteen correctional officers. Additionally there is one secretary, one clerk, one nurse and two cooks as well as one part-time maintenance man. The jail is inspected once a year by the State Board of Corrections and is currently in compliance is every area except staffing. On the average there are 4 correctional officers per shift as is required in the minimum jail standards guidelines set by the State Board of Corrections.
The jail budget for the year is $2.2 million. Currently the jail is operating within its budget guidelines for the fiscal year. This has been achieved in spite of operating with an almost continual maximum inmate population.
There is consideration being given to upgrading the correctional officers at the jail to "full deputy status". A major advantage of doing so would be that the Sheriff could pull staff from the jail to patrol, etc. An advantage for the employee would be greater career advancement opportunities. The only disadvantage would be the additional cost and time of training.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Grand Jury recommends that:
| 1. |
When vacancies occur in allotted positions for correction officers, they be
filled promptly. |
| 2. |
Arrangements be made for psychologists, psychiatrists, or other mental health practitioners from the Department of Mental Health to interview and examine
inmates on the jail premises. |
AFFECTED AGENCIES
San Benito County Sheriff
San Benito County Board of Supervisors
RESPONSE REQUIRED
California Penal Code s/s 933 requires that a response to this final report's
recommendations be delivered to the presiding judge within 90 days of the
receipt of the report.
B. San Benito County Juvenile Hall
The nine year old San Benito County Juvenile Hall facility is extremely neat, clean and orderly. There is a strictly enforced zero tolerance policy for graffiti, garbage, drugs and fighting. A security check is done on every juvenile upon entering the facility. In addition all juvenile living quarters are safety checked every day.
The juveniles must attend in-house school classes every weekday. There is one teacher and one teacher's aide. The classroom is very orderly with a good selection of books as well as computers. Each juvenile is allowed to have a maximum of 3 soft-covered books in his/her dormitory style "room" at one time. Additionally the offenders receive AA Counseling, Church/Spiritual guidance, drug counseling as well as "life skills" training. The inmates days are intentionally well structured with a minimum amount of idle time.
There are 13 people on staff. The staff is broken down as follows: 7 juvenile institution officers, 4 juvenile supervisors, 1 secretary and 1 superintendent.
This facility has its own on-site courtroom for ease and privacy of the juveniles and their families. No metal detector at the entrance of the courtroom was observed.
At this time no on-site psychologist treatment/evaluation is available and therefore inmates must be transported to the San Benito County Mental Health Department for these appointments.
The juvenile's parents/guardian is billed $11.84 per day for each day the juvenile is in this facility. This figure is established by a County resolution. While payment is encouraged, it appears that non-payment is not pursued. However, many responsible parties do attempt to make some sort of payment.
The food for the inmates is prepared at the main jail and is brought over on individual trays in a closed cart.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Grand Jury recommends that:
| 1. |
When vacancies occur in allotted positions they be filled immediately. |
| 2. |
A metal detector be installed at the door to the courtroom. |
| 3. |
Arrangements be made for mental health practitioners from the Department of Mental Health to interview and treat inmates on the premises. |
| 4. |
Outstanding housing payments be
pursued. |
AFFECTED AGENCIES
San Benito County Probation Department
San Benito County Superior Court
San Benito County Board of Supervisors
RESPONSE REQUIRED
California Penal Code s/s 933 requires that a response to this final report's
recommendations be delivered to the presiding judge within 90 days of the
receipt of the report.
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