Sacramento County supervisors urged to suspend nearly $1 billion main jail annex. Did they?
Plans for a nearly $1 billion intake and health services facility annex at the Sacramento County Main Jail are suspended as the county considers how to address systemic issues laid out in an external review.
The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to pause the build and design of the project to address recommendations from CGL Companies, which found the annex plans insufficient for future jail needs and offered ways for the county to move forward.
Before the project can continue as previously approved, CGL recommended the county address current jail systems and infrastructure and conduct an operational analysis. The report also recommended establishing a jail oversight committee, a “comprehensive” master plan to improve the facility’s services and consider a population analysis to predict the county’s needs over the next two decades.
“The objectives of the peer-review project were to examine and verify the intake and health services facility’s likelihood of achieving compliance with the Mays Consent Decree,” said Brian Lee, vice president of justice services of CGL.
Board Chair Phil Serna, who represents District 1, was the sole vote against the project. Over the years, Serna has expressed concerns over the facility’s costs. Supervisors Pat Hume, Rich Desmond, Rosario Rodriguez and Patrick Kennedy approved the recommendations.
In his comments, Kennedy called the conditions of the jail “medieval” and urged the facility be updated.
“I will tell you that, should this go forward and should the options that come back include a $2 billion facility, I will be voting ‘no’ on that. But, I don’t see the harm in looking at a plan and a master plan to guide us with more information,” Kennedy said.
The current facility does not meet standards of the Mays Consent Decree, which is a result of a 2019 lawsuit against Sacramento County by a group of incarcerated people, who alleged they experienced inhumane treatment and faced unconstitutional conditions.
CGL’s report did find the plans were sufficient to meet the requirements set by the Mays Consent Decree.
The Board of Supervisors previously rejected the project in 2021. In 2024, the board brought in CGL Companies for nearly $600,000 to review the project before giving it a final vote.
Community support, concerns
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office agreed with the recommendation of CGL to suspend the current project for the new annex, Chief Deputy Salvador Robles said. He said compliance with the Mays Consent Decree “cannot be achieved without new construction or major renovation, and that the IHSF (Intake and Health Services Facility) project will be sufficient.”
“The Sheriff’s Office looks forward to continue to work with all the stakeholders to design a solution which will meet the county and community’s needs,” Robles said.
Community members urged the board to reject the plan and refocus resources toward county mental health resources. Many recommended Sacramento County implement restorative justice efforts similar to those introduced in Yolo County.
Corrine McIntosh Sako, a licensed psychologist recommended getting rid of the project altogether.
“The Mays Consent Decree was a result of the inhumane and unconstitutional treatment that plaintiffs received while experiencing incarceration at our county jails,” McIntosh Sako said. “The building being out of ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) as soon as it opened its doors is just one of the many reasons the county finds itself in this situation.”
Flojaune Cofer, former mayoral candidate and Sacramento epidemiologist, said the jail does not need to be expanded to meet the requirements of the Mays Consent Decree. She recommended the board “think about investing these dollars differently.”
“Investing billions of dollars in an expansion of the jail is not only unnecessary, we are also unprepared to do it,” Cofer said. “As we’ve heard earlier today from the presentation, it’s out of step with countywide sentiment, and it’s an irresponsible use of our taxpayer funds. Please, let’s stop wasting all of our collective time on this proposal.”
Decarcerate Sacramento stated in a news release there has been a lack of accountability, inhumane conditions inside the jails and “the need for jail population reduction through pretrial reforms.”
This story was originally published February 27, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
