Humboldt County has a plan for matching funds for construction if the proposal for the new Humboldt County Corrections Re-entry and Day Reporting center goes through

On today's Humboldt County Board of Supervisors agenda, under the Probation Department heading, item # 9 talks about a proposal for a new Humboldt County facility.

Approval of Agreement with Criminal Justice Research Foundation and Approval of
Supplemental Budget in Budget Unit 294 (4/5 Vote Required)
9.
That the Board of Supervisors approve the Consultant Agreement with Criminal
Justice Research Foundation to develop Humboldt County's proposal for a
Humboldt County Corrections Reentry and Day Reporting Center under Senate
Bill 863; authorize the chairperson of the Board to sign two copies of the
Consultant Agreement; authorize the Clerk of the Board to forward two copies of
the Consultant Agreement to Probation Attention: Ellisha Hardison, Legal Office
Business Manager; and approve the Probation Department Supplemental Budget
request to increase the Contract Services line of Probation Public Safety
Realignment Budget Unit 294 (4/5 vote required).

I think this new facility is a great idea. A new facility will be able to house offenders by risk level, level of crime and it could be even more of a rehabilitation facility. The new jail expansion facility has been discussed before at a press conference and was reported by several media. The discussion has come up again. So this item is not new "news."

In this case, the cost of to staff and run would be less expensive compared to the cost of the booking fees, court fees, attorney fees, housing and other expenses that taxpayers pay for repeat offenders and others who are released due to lack of jail space, only to commit a new crime. 

You do not need a consultant to see what releasing people who do not want to change costs the taxpayers. That is why crime headlines drive blog traffic and sell newspapers. There are people who want to change, get an education, re enter into society. They should be housed separately so they are around supportive people with the same goal. That cost is an efficient use of investing into people who want to change and leave their criminal past behind.

Read this link under that agenda item: http://humboldt.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=259a2bf2-206d-4c68-af9c-13c5e971954a.pdf

Point to pay attention to:

There is no financial impact to the County General Fund; all expenditures will be covered by increased revenues from realignment.

There has been concern raised over at the Humboldt Consequential blog http://thclive.net/2015/08/25/expansion-of-the-humboldt-county-jail-is-it-worth-the-cost/
 about the cost of constructing the facility taken from an article in the Times-Standard http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20150823/county-to-hear-public-response-to-cannabis-cultivation-ordinance. That is a good question.

I was curious myself. I contacted a couple of Supervisors and Supervisor Virginia BAss got back to me. Supervisor Ryan Sundberg will be getting back to me as well.

"The county intends to pursue the issuance of certificates of participation for $1 million. If the county decides not to go that route we currently have 1 million available in the criminal justice fund that could be applied to the project. The county has also identified $500,000 cash contribution from the Humboldt County Community Corrections Partnership. That accounts for the 1.5". This is a point Supervisor Bass 

She said she would get back to me about the other 100,000." I reached both her and Supervisor Ryan Sundberg after they had left for day and they were only able to talk for a few minutes. They are going to check and get back to me.

Today, Supervisor Sundberg got back to me. "Below is the language from the resolution attached to the agenda item that explains where the funds are coming from for the project:

The County intends to pursue the issuance of Certificates of Participation to fund this project and currently has $1 million available in the Criminal Justice fund that could be applied to the project if COPs are not issued. In addition, the County has identified $500,000 cash contribution from the Humboldt County Community Corrections Partnership (HCCCP). The total county cash contribution for this project is $1.5 million.

The $500,000 is from AB109 funds.

The last $80 K or so will be part of the contingency. This is a small amount when dealing with a $20 million construction project. In other words, we don't know if we will need that, or if it would be a general fund payment or if another grant source would open up and pay it."
I wrote aboout the Humboldt County Community Partnership 
http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2015/07/local-grants-available-to-reduce-crime.html