Merced County recommended to receive $40 million for jail renovations

Merced County is poised to receive $40 million in funding to improve housing, health care and programs at the John Latorraca Correctional Facility, which officials say was not designed to hold offenders as dangerous as those it has.

Sheriff Vern Warnke said Tuesday that the California Board of State and Community Corrections has recommended the money be granted to Merced County, which competed against other medium-sized counties for the funding. The board, which endorsed the full amount sought by Merced County, is expected to formally approve the funding Nov. 12, Warnke said.

“This will allow us have a facility that’s safer for our correctional officers and staff and the inmates,” Warnke said Tuesday. “We can improve the building, restructure important areas, like booking and intake, and basically improve the facility which was never meant to house the types of inmates we have in there now.”

Opened in 1990, the Latorraca facility was designed to house low-level offenders, not the diverse classification of inmates it now holds. It has seen several escapes, including cases in recent years when inmates were able to break through a wood-framed drywall dormitory and climb through the ceiling.

Escapes from the jail on Sandy Mush Road were significantly curtailed in 2014 when sheriff’s officials, working under then-Sheriff Tom Cavallero, took measures that included improving fencing and bolting down furniture to prevent inmates from reaching the roof.

The county applied for the money under Senate Bill 863, which addresses correctional facilities’ needs for improved housing and an emphasis on program and treatment space. The money will be used at John Latorraca to renovate dormitories as well as build a new health care building, a new programs and services building, laundry and kitchen facilities, intake and release facilities, and a new administration building, according to Capt. Greg Sullivan.

The renovations will help expand the jail’s programs that help lower recidivism, Warnke said as the county prepared to submit the application. John Latorraca has only two classrooms, making it hard to provide programs while separating opposing gang members. The jail offers programs such as life skills, anger management, employment readiness, behavior therapy and substance abuse treatment education.

The $40 million will come on top of approximately $4.5 million from the county, which has set aside funding for capital projects in its budget. The county also anticipates about $1 million of “in kind” funding that will cover things such as staff work on the project, said Mike North, a spokesman for the county.

Warnke said his office will work with the county Public Works Department to begin renovations after the new year. Construction is estimated to span three to five years.

The sheriff praised the efforts of Sullivan, who “spearheaded the project” to win the state money.

The renovations will be the first step in the county’s long-term plan to consolidate the Merced County Main Jail with the John Latorraca facility southwest of Merced.

Merced County previously applied for similar levels of funding under Assembly Bill 900 and Senate Bill 1022 and was rejected in 2013 and again earlier this year. When the county applied for Senate Bill 1022 funding previously, its application did not demonstrate available funding from the county and failed to complete an environmental study. In August, the Merced County Board of Supervisors approved the county budget, which included the $4.5 million. The necessary environmental study also was completed at the end of August.

Sullivan said the funding award was the product of a joint effort between the Sheriff’s Department, the county Probation Department, Public Works and the county administration.

“It’s long overdue for this county to have an updated facility. It helps us prepare for the long-term future,” Sullivan said. “It’s been a difficult road getting to this point in making our application (for the money) competitive and I’m just really appreciative of the hard work everybody in the different agencies put in.”

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 3:43 PM with the headline "Merced County recommended to receive $40 million for jail renovations."