Sheriff: $100M Grant Funding for Jail Construction Ok'd for Riverside County

A request for $100 million in grant funding for jail construction has been approved for the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, administrators for Sheriff Stan Sniff announced Thursday.

The news comes at a time of for jail overcrowding and early prisoner release in the San Gorgonio Pass. Banning is home to Smith Correctional Facility, the county's largest jail with 1,500 beds.

The Riverside County jail system, already overcrowded after the start of AB 109 realignment, has been under a permanent federal court order for persistent overcrowding since 1993, sheriff's Sgt. Joe Borja said in a statement.

Since the start of January 2012,  more than 600 inmates have been released early in Riverside County, Borja said.

"We are excited about the news, and appreciate the collaboration from the Board of Supervisors, CEO Larry Parrish's staff, and from Riverside County EDA," Sniff said.

"Finding the additional funding for the matching costs and the required staffing will be our next step, but expanding our local system is critical over the next few years if we are to keep our communities across Riverside County safe," Sniff said.

"The release of any inmates due simply to jail overcrowding is not suitable to any of us in the criminal justice system," Sniff said.

The Sheriff's Department received verbal notification Thursday afternoon that its request for $100 million in grant funding for jail construction to help relieve overcrowding was approved by the State Corrections Standards Authority in Sacramento, Borja said.

Sheriff's administrators started working last summer with the County CEO and County EDA to put together an application to add 1,200 more beds to the jail system, which currently has 3,906 beds, Borja said.

Riverside County's application for the funding that was approved today was submitted in early January 2012.

"This is great news for Riverside County and the people we protect and serve," Board of Supervisors Chairman John Tavaglione said in the Sheriff's Department announcement.

"I want to thank Sheriff Stan Sniff for his cooperation and leadership as well as my fellow members of the Board of Supervisors, and especially the joint efforts of the County departments involved in putting the application together."

Editor's Note: The sheriff's department announcement includes the following statement - "The current County Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) currently designates the expansion of jail in Indio as the County's number one priority. Even with this latest news on funding, that expansion is still several years away even if the required staffing can be funded."