A proposal to alleviate chronic overcrowding at the Santa Barbara County Jail by constructing a North County “day center” for less-serious offenders intent on turning their lives around is scheduled to go before the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

It's too early in the planning process for specific plans, including possible locations, a cost estimate or funding options, but the Sheriff's Department wants to determine whether the board would support researching the idea.

Under the day center format, inmates who have made progress while incarcerated to complete treatment and educational programs can be released early if they agree to continue their efforts. Programs that may be offered at the center include educational classes, job training, counseling and drug or alcohol rehabilitation.

Also, the center would connect with community resources to make progress easier from program participants.

People in jail for violent or sex-related crimes would not qualify for the program, Mahurin said.

“The day center is an additional alternative-sentencing program to assist in relieving jail overcrowding on a short-term basis,” said Sheriff Jim Anderson. “There is a continued need for an additional facility in the North County. The meeting Tuesday will update the board on an independent review of the criminal justice system, and how it will break down further if people are not held accountable for their sentences.”

Tuesday's meeting begins at 9 a.m. at the County Administration Building, 105 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara. People can also participate via remote television testimony in Santa Maria at the Betteravia Government Center, 511 E. Lakeside Parkway.

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During 2005, the County Jail averaged 22 percent over its recommended capacity, and about two-thirds of inmates were arrested by agencies other than the county Sheriff's Department. The overcrowding has left as many as 100 inmates sleeping on the floor at one time.

Crowded conditions also have forced officials to release some misdemeanor offenders early to make room for more serious offenders in the jail.

“In a nutshell, if you fill up a box all the way to the top and keep trying to put stuff in it, eventually the box falls apart,” said Lt. Mark Mahurin.

“That's where we are with the jail system.”

The supervisors asked the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections, in December to review the county's jail system and make recommendations to improve conditions at the facility.

A North County day reporting center is one of the main ideas that came out of the Justice Department's evaluation, and is designed to reduce the number of people at the main jail and the chance of repeat offenders.

There are approximately 1,000 such centers across the county that are having positive results, Mahurin said.

Participants would have to wear monitoring bracelets and be required to check in daily with the center, before beginning classes or work.

“We want to present some tools for these people to hopefully survive without having to go back to jail,” Mahurin said.

While there isn't a location identified for the center, officials are looking at putting it in the North County because 55 percent of jail inmates come from that region, Mahurin said. Also, the North County doesn't have as many resources available to this population as the South Coast does, he added.

While the Sheriff's Department pursues the day center, it is not giving up hope that one day funds will be available to construct a $153 million North County Jail, which is necessary to keep “the teeth in the justice system,” Mahurin said.

“Should we not be doing (the day center) either way?” Mahurin asked. “Whether we need a jail or don't need a jail, this is just the right thing to do, I think.”

In addition to the day center, the Department of Justice recommended the county construct a North County Jail, fix the older portions of the existing jail, pursue collaborative funding strategies, and find more mental-health beds in the community.

Randi Block can be reached at 347-4580 or rblock@

lompocrecord.com.

July 28, 2006