Sonoma County's New Jail, with Mike Chrystal and Jim Hussett

Sanoma County. The chosen spot of all the earth as far as nature is concerned, according to the famed plant wizard Luther Burbank Dover's County, with 1,010,000 acres of land on 1574 miles of scenic roadways, the county is rightfully famed for its agriculture did a culture, industry

and recreation, as well as for the amazingly successful ethnic and economic mixture of its more than 340,000 residents on for the forward looking philosophy of its local governing bodies. Now we invite you to take a closer look at Sanoma County in the eighties with your host,

rich McGlinchy. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to another edition of Sonoma County in the Ladies Mr Vision of a program going to be talking about something that's very much in the news of late and something that's important to us all. When I'm talking about the

Sonoma County Jail were to talk to two persons on that subject. On the right of your screen is my crystal is the assistant CEO. Michael, you have to have your bags to be here and on the left of your screen is Jim Husted, Hi, Jim Dream

is the transition team leader. Um, Mike, I think we'll start with you because I think we want to know a little bit of background about why we're building a jail. It's an expensive undertaking, as we all know. So run it. You described with Trickle the S

Cinema County case and how it affects the current jail building program. Nature Co. Was a civil rights suit that was filed against the county in 1980 alleging that the conditions in the old main jail created an environment that was prone to violence, that the the inmates

were not afforded their constitutional rights. Three County settled the case out of court, and under the terms of the settlement agreement, the county has agreed to build new correctional facilities at the what was the honor Farm is now the North County detention facility and a site

of the existing jail, the main adult detention facility on a very tight time schedule. Mike, explain your role in this kind of jail building programme. What is it? Well, I've been designated as the project Director. I'm the county's primary representative in dealing with the various parties

involved in getting the construction complete the architect, the construction manager, the transition team, the sheriff's staff and various other consultants involved in the project. Um, what is the actual schedule for the completion of the various drill construction projects? They're several, I believe. Right. Well, the most

of the construction at the North County facility is complete. Are scheduled for completion was April 1986 and we were able to complete that project on time. Uh, the main project. We have a deadline of July 1988 and we are on schedule at at this time. Such

that's good news. Have Mike described the captain improvements, which had been accomplished to date. He said that you were supposed to do the other form by six minutes. What else have you done? That's far. All of the capital improvements that have been completed have taken place

out of what was called the honor farm and now is the North County facility that included a new 32 bed female, uh, operation, uh, it included about $6 million of essentially the new facility, which it involves an 80 bid popular dormitory on duh. What we call

it support services building that includes cafeteria dining program booking office space in all of the related improvements, we also have a maximum security wing attached to the support services facility. Ah, and we remodeled the existing on a farm to allow us to house medium and high

security prisoners in one section. All of that was completed as of April 1986. Make when you mentioned the women's facility out there. Are all the women prisoners now housed out there? No, there are still a few women house that the main facility, but for the most

part they are house that the honor farm. There was one of the ideas behind that particular construction resident. How does the population makeup of the county detention facility now compared with the old daughter? Far the old on our farm was was a minimum security facility, house

males only, and was rated for, I believe, 138 inmates. At present, we have over 300 inmates at the North County facility, a mix of male and female all classifications those sentence and and on sentenced inmates. Approximately 50 women, 250 men well, click on a farm that's

dead and a system with a set of a center chip of his oil andan wings. Is that correct? That's basically because that that's fairly modern idea is meant to, still or not. Well, I defer to Jim on that one, but I think it did. Maybe is

the forerunner of the kind of new direction and new generation facility that we're beginning to build now. That's right. Okay, what's the current status of the existing jail bike? It's It's a fairly good sized structure, but its operational. Under the settlement, the federal court settlement, we

have a population cap. We can house no more than 268 prisoners at the Maine facility. We've done some one of a Band Aid job and tried toe refurbish the facility of the last several years so that it could be operational until July 1988. We've been able

to convert to of the housing areas Teoh, direct supervision, new generation facilities and Jim, my believe is going to speak toe that kind of operation later. Yeah, why? We're in this business of reviewing. Why don't you media the status of the main Don't detention facility and

that construction project that's underway and we were a little bit of that. Okay, uh, we're building the project in phases, essentially three phases being located north of the holla justice on county owned property. Okay, The first phase involved site work, construction, fencing and utilities, and it

was completed on schedule in September of 86. The second phase, which includes a pile driving and structural steel, is underway, and it's scheduled for completion in February of 87. The final phase, which is the balance of construction $30 million worth of construction, will go out to

bid in January. Construction will commence in February, weather permitting, and we hope to occupy in July of 1988. Uh, that's a two things. What is the cost of the project? And then, if you could the magnitude of the project and 1/3 question all in one. How

is it gonna be financed? Okay, well, the that the total program has an estimated cost of $40 million. The main project, the main Anil detention facility budget right now is $38.5 million. The magnitude of that is about 240,000 square feet of construction. Approximately 400 beds, Two

full service courts, all of the related facilities toe per minister, operate detention facility. You also court facilities and such. In terms of the financing, the county has accumulated about $13 million of general funds over the past four years. We're also fortunate to be able to obtain

about $14 million state funds from the April jail bond election. And we're gonna borrow the balance, which is about $13 million using a device called a certificate of participation, which is essentially a at least purchase arrangement. It's the same approach that we used to finance the

major portion of the honor farm improvements. Well, that's fairly new. This, uh, certificate would you call it getting participation, participation? What basically, is that, But it's essentially a bond. It's very similar to a general obligation, but it also involved it's private funding, and it involves a

lease, and it it is legal in that the county could walk away from the financing on an annual basis. If the county didn't have funds to pay the lease, the facilities could revert to the the private entrepreneur in the county could walk away. Okay, um, when

the question here describe the responsibility of your construction manager on this main adult detention facility project. That's that's something kind of new. Perhaps. I think the concept of a construction manager, I think, is new to the county. I think it's a role that's been utilized in

private enterprise for many years, and essentially the role the construction manager is Teoh bring the project on into in on time and within budget on he is in control of all aspects of the operation as faras, the work that's being done in the field and the

contractor takes the responsibility for means and methods for getting the job done. But the construction manager coordinates all of the activities out in the side and is the county's agent. Are representative to make sure that we get what we paid for within budget non time. Now,

the fact that we're building this jail and you explain where we are in the cost of that sort of thing has that affecting the rest of local peppermint. I know one thing. The park. It has changed a great deal around the cabin center. Let's touch on

that a little bit when if you did, too, to sort of clear that was over there you're building or was our parking at one time or what have you done with people in terms of hard? I don't with that question Can, uh, in terms of the

the parking we have built alternate facilities to the east of Ventura Avenue on, We're in the process of updating our master plan for the site. There's no question that the jail construction has had a major effect on the administration centre. It was something that the magnitude

of which was not contemplated even three years ago on we're trying to develop alternative parking facilities and other general office facilities at the county center toe to make up for the space that's been taken up by the new jail project. We're gonna pause just a moment

or two here for the station to bring a public service announcement could make one of the comments would you make about the jail is that it is going right now. And what can people look forward to happening in this next? You live in the time for

February and then again that the final completion in 80 uh, up until that time, is it going to be a real disruptive program as far as the government center. I think you did a test, for instance, for decibel for power driving. You know what you thought

right? Disrupt the house that way, home that it won't be too disrupted. I think the point that I would make is also is that we've taken the project through design review, and a sense of jail is a necessary evil. But we think that the structure is

gonna is gonna enhance the community and be something that, as people drive in and out of Santa Rosa, uh, they will see and and will not be totally objectionable in terms of ah, structure. For one thing, haven't you sort of There's a mound between the highway

and the jail isn't kind of being hidden just a little bit. I mean, the least blocked off from the now. But the mound will be gone when the project is complete. But there are other things that we're doing. The design of the facility is such that

I think it it while it's a jail, and we're not trying toe to hide that it does look somewhat like an office building. Be extensive landscaping. Very pleasant looking. Yeah, this is done for you, ladies and gentlemen. Basically, And that was to make the structure were

amenable to you. And certainly more aesthetic to look at and not look like the same. Quit in prison, so to speak. And I think they're doing about We will see what it's all through, but certainly the architects drawings share our arrival of structure. We're gonna pause

for just a moment and let our station bring you a public service announcement. We come back, we're gonna talk with Jim Hustle. And he's the head of the transition team where the transition came, Leader. And we're going to see some descriptions and some, actually some working

models of what's going to be transpiring here. One of this in just a moment. Hi. I'm no one famous, but I did make an important phone call. I called the help line of the Snow MMA County National Council on Alcoholism. The information they gave me about

the disease of alcoholism really helped me to get my family's life back on track. It made all the difference in the world for me. You could make the difference for you too. Welcome. back to this tradition of Sonoma County in the eighties were talking about something

that's very, very important to round of us. The new Sonoma County Jail. We're gonna be talking to Jim Hustle. We've talked with my crystal assistant county administrator and his role in the project director as the project director, I should say of this deal, and we're going

to gym. No gym, your transition team leader. And you're also very honestly, very key person in this thing. And you have some very, very interesting material here. Why don't you explain right to begin with this, This just drawing rendering right over here, I'd be happy to

rich. For those who have been in the county center and familiar with the buildings on campus, the structure here in the lower portion of the picture is the existing courthouse. This building here is the existing me in jail. I think that you can see when I

point to the buff colored structure on the relief map here. This will be the new county jail building. It's a very large structure. Its proximity 240,000 square feet, it three stories high and its tallest point and will house a total of 404 prisoners in some nine

different housing. It's It will also contained within it a full service kitchen administrative area for jail, administration, ISS custody and non custom administration. And we have two new full service courts for both Desperate and Superior Court. They're also attached to the building and will be actually

joining the old courthouse. Uh, just as you were pointing out a little earlier rise up until a few weeks ago. Ah, very large parking area for county and the public visiting the center. Uh, that parking has been relocated into this area and the county is going

to have toe continue to master plan for additional parking. As as you pointed out, we seem to keep getting busier and busier there at the county center. That's a very large structure, I'd like to point out, however, you mentioned that in Mike mentioned that it's going

to be a very eye appealing, attractive facility wear, attempting to make it something that is still a jail and reminds folks that that we do have unfortunately, a problem here in Sonoma County asst to other counties, and we must provide a facility to house people at

the same time. Make it, uh, not something stark. You portray Dida's the San Quentin facility, which we've all seen that you traveled a bear. It kind of stands out on the corner there. Peninsula Thistle is, I think, what the architects have been able to accomplish within

the budget constraints and the site constraints, a very attractive A building and but a very functional building at the same time. These one picture here is is actually coming into the main part of the facility into the central Robert area. One of the things we might

have asked you to begin with, but I wanted to point that out. What? It was there. What is the actual role of the Sheriff Department's transition team, which you had? That's a That's a fair question that still trying to find that out. Uh, the I've been

very fortunate to be selected by the sheriff. Teoh head up with Sheriff's Department transition team, the board very generously as a Rod, the sheriff to have five full time staff assigned to this project, and we have been for the past year. I have two correctional sergeants

that worked with me, Sergeant Michelle Quinn and Sergeant Vicky Persons. I have a civilian staff person, assistant Dr Elaine Hamlin, and I have, ah, Jack see who is our clerk and that that comprises the personnel in transition teeth. More importantly, the responsibilities of the team are

to ensure that operationally, the building, as it's being designed and will be built, will meet the operation requirements of the Sheriff's Department. Uh, and that is an important role. I think the experience on unfortunately in some county's and states around the country has been that without

the valuable input of the sheriff's department early on in the planning process, they have, in fact, ended up with a facility that the sheriff found unacceptable for habitation. When there's an instance of a relatively new jail being opened in Texas, where the sheriff refused occupy because

the dean of the facility was not safe. Uh, in this instance, I think through our planning, participation on a daily basis with the, with the architects on the other members of the transition team that we are assured that building, as it's being design and soon to

be built, will in fact be operationally acceptable to the sheriff All right, Jim, how is the new jail that we're talking about? You're gonna be different from the old one. I take, in other words, what I'm asking is have we learned in the last 20 years

about building jails? Well, fortunately, we've learned quite a bit. And perhaps one of the most important things we've learned is that the old style jail that the type of jail that we have on the county center currently is not a very efficient facility. And we certainly

learned that through the through the lawsuit that was filed back in 1980. And it's not a very cost effective facility. What we have in the existing facility is what's called a linear, remote, intermittent surveillance for silly. And I think your viewers can relate to the old

Jimmy Cagney movies that they've seen on TV, where when Jimmy Cagney played the Khan and he was up on what they call the tears and you have a long row of cells within, the guards would walk by the cells. That's a linear, uh, intermittent surveillance. What's

meant by that is that the guard can Onley see into a cellar into an area of cells If he walks the tear and comes directly in front of that cell area, that's the only way he can. You know what's going on within the confines of that

particular cell area? We've learned that that's not a very efficient way to man a facility of this nature. And the reason being is that it breeds the kind of violence that cars County, too be engaged in. The trickle lawsuit were unable to provide the kind of

supervision that's required. Jim, there's a term called Generation Direct Supervision Jail facility. This, I think, is what you're touching up. But what do you really mean by that? Correct. What we've been directed by the federal court to build is a new generation popular direct supervision jail.

That's a bunch of words, and I'll try to make it make sense for us all. New generation really only means that this is the new way of looking at and building constructing facilities. It's moving away from the linear construction that we talked just talked about to

several types of popular design, one of which is remote surveillance and in remote surveillance. What we do is we build a popular jail, but we have the guards encapsulated in a secure environment so that their in an environment looking out onto the inmate population, Sonoma County.

We're moving into a step further called direct supervision. And what it means, essentially, is that the correctional officers working in the facility that we're building will be housed with the prisoners. And we're building nine housing units. As I stated before, eight of which will be of

the Direct Supervision Nature, we will have one remote surveillance unit in the facility for hard core male inmates. Predominately, I have brought a model rich which might help your viewers understand a relatively new concept. And that's kind of what can you explain as you do that?

How this direct supervision comparison current? I think I can try to remind you could trucking. Okay, Jim, I dropped my mike. Yeah, you might want to use that off for a minute. What we have here, riches is a model that the architects have constructed off one

of the general population housing units that will be comprised in the new facility. When I mentioned before that this is a popular designed by podge, but we mean that sells are in the circumference around where the officer will be stationed. This is the officer stationed here

in the model. It's possible this officer is on a raised platform. This officer, if at that station, will be able to see virtually every self. Yeah, in his housing unit at any point in time. Even if he moves from that station which is very much a

part of the direct supervision model that he must roam around and interact with the prisoners as their out into this day room, he is still able from almost any point to see almost total living unit. The new generation direct supervision concept calls for housing units of

no more than 50 prisoners. And we have constructed a cost efficient 50 cell environment. For for these inmates, it will be manned by one staff person. We have provided within this structure a recreation area that's exposed to the outdoors. They will. It's a self continued. What

we see represented here are tables, dining tables where the inmates will be fed. All meals will be brought to the units. Uh, we have several TV viewing areas. I was gonna call them recreation or is a combination of TV viewing card playing areas here, here and

underneath this mezzanine floor and in again a couple places on the floor. There are no less than four TV viewing areas in each of these housing units, so that library services, educational services, we have the ability within this unit to have space for four persons to

come in for Alcoholics Anonymous type counseling. Other other programs, like that all services. The main thing I wanted to make main point. I want to make riches that all services air to be brought to the unit for the inmates. Medical services of of, you know, not

emergency nature library services, meals Everything's brought into into this housing unit beautifully thought out for serving you. Well, we think it iss we. This concept of popular direct supervision is very new and it But it has been tested in several locations, and we're most fortunate to

have an example very close by and Contra Costa County. They opened a popular direct supervision jail of some 350 or so inmates approximately six years ago. Their experience with it has been dramatic. The incidents of violence, one of the mean, uh, problems that we're trying to

reason resolved with with the lawsuit and what the building, a new jail is to diminish the level of violence within the facility. And we've seen through their example that this kind of living environment works very well and does, in fact reduce violence. I have questions about

this before I leave. You can't see it. I can see it's just amazing the tremendous designed that I can understand. Yes, I can understand basically what you're saying, and it seems to me that it's a very it certainly is a monitors on It seems like it

the most practical about the designs we encountered, right? Well, we believe it. Iss i in thinking about statements that we might make to the viewers concerning this new jail. It occurred to me that I know as I've is, I've moved about. If unionists people, I've learned

what my role is. The question for him. We attempt to tell them what we're going to be doing with new jail. I frequently been confronted with well, but we'd like it to be a real jail. I mean, people like the steel bars and the heaviness of

what traditionally we have known to be jailed jail is is many people said jails for punishment, and that's what we build jail. And yet, as we know from our own lawsuit, people tend to forget about Fifth Amendment rights and a court decision that came out in

1980 the United States Supreme Court in Belgium vs Wolfish, tempted to make clear to all correctional administrators as well as as people that pretrial confinement like this cannot be punishment and they have never seen a badge. It shines like that. I think I shined it up

specifically for today. Relatively new. This just before the show lieutenant crosses the sheriff, require many more. Pushing out operates through a larger facility. No, that's one of the real advantages of the direct supervision model. Is that because we are having a ratio essentially of one correctional

officer to 50 inmates, it's a very staff efficient operation. Way will be adding a sinister crystal knows, uh, some 10 12 staff yet to round out our current staffing pattern to the new facility. See, just wearing finished all of those battles. But I think we've agreed

in discussions previously with Mike and with the Board of Supervisors that not down to every last position. Certainly, but the minimum amount of staffing will be required to operate this facility. And I think everybody's pleased. Maybe get a not out of Mike, that it is. Staff

official. Yeah, it's It's something we found we must do. I think we have taken the time to look at the various designs. In fact, they have been even altered in the past. I know, on friendly have come up, which is probably the most satisfactory designed we

could possibly have. No surprising enough time just flies by. So we're just about out of time, and I'm gonna have to thank you. But I know there were more things we could have talked about here, But, Jim, I want to thank you very much. Thank you.

From over pleasure. Tell us more about this and we'd like to have you back with us. Maybe in the spring when the main for somebody gets going after we got a few walls up, we'll bring him in. All right, well, let's go grab. It was a

pleasure to have you here and continue doing the flying job you're doing is project Director. Thank you. That I know you have been through the barrel of several times. A marvelous job. My name is Regiment Radioprogramas, Sonoma County. In the eighties. We'll be back with your

next week at the same time with another member of the county government. Family are related agencies. Until then, right. Could have a lot of good luck to each and every one of you.