Sheriff calls for jail funding

Sheriff Greg Munks made his case this week before the California Corrections Standards Authority for state funding to build a new jail facility in San Mateo County.

The Board of Supervisors has yet to decide if it wants to use up to $100 million available under Assembly Bill 900 but did authorize an application to keep the option open.

On Wednesday, Munks explained the need to construct a new 648-bed jail to soften overcrowding and offer rehabilitation services.

"[I]n spite of the fact that over 50 percent of sentenced inmates are serving their sentence out of custody in alternative sentencing programs, the jail inmate population continues to climb at an alarming rate,” Munks said.

Overcrowding has been a chronic problem at the Maguire Correctional Facility for a number of years but Munks pointed to two recent developments that threaten to make the matter "untenable”: a federal judicial order in response to two class action lawsuits challenging conditions in state prisons and a state proposal to shift supervision of 71,000 inmates to local counties.

The Women’s Correctional Center needs updating for the same reasons, too, Munks said.

"It is imperative that we replace the WCC with a new inmate housing facility that will also offer relief for overcrowding at the Maguire Correctional Facility. I am hopeful that we will receive funding from the state so that we may proceed with building the new facility,” Munks said. A decision on AB 900 funding is expected in May.