SACRAMENTO (Nov. 12, 2015) – The Board of State and Community Corrections today approved conditional awards totaling $500 million to 15 counties seeking to improve and replace the state’s aging local jails. The lease-revenue bond financing program was established in the Governor’s 2014-15 budget and Senate Bill 863, the Adult Local Criminal Justice Facility Financing legislation. The legislation calls for the expansion of programming and treatment space, as well as reentry program space and mental health and treatment space. Successful conditional applicants include San Francisco County, which will decommission 828 beds when it vacates two outdated jails and replaces them with a 384-bed facility that includes classroom and vocational program spaces, and Humboldt County, which plans a 38-bed community transitional reentry facility and a six-bed mental health housing unit with areas for counselors. The Board placed a condition on Butte County’s award until it is determined whether the county legally can use inmate welfare funds for its required construction match. The Board also encouraged the county to find an alternative funding source for that match. A list of conditionally financed projects is below, along with a synopsis of the 12 fully funded and three partially funded proposals. The awarded projects represent a reduction of 310 general population jail beds statewide, and an addition of 196 medical and mental health beds. The successful counties were chosen from a field of 32 applicants asking for a total of $1.2 billion to improve local jail facilities. The legislation specified that counties could replace outdated, compacted housing with more efficient facilities that emphasize the space needed to achieve the dual goals of reducing recidivism while protecting public safety. The BSCC, established in 2012, is a multi-faceted organization that provides assistance to the counties on community corrections issues. The agency annually administers and awards millions of dollars in grants designed to reduce recidivism and address juvenile justice and delinquency prevention, sets standards for the training of local corrections officers and the operations of local corrections facilities, and administers the current lease-revenue bond process for local jail improvements. To view the full release, click here. For more information about this press release please contact Tracie Cone at 916-322-1054 or tracie.cone@bscc.ca.gov.