Calaveras County Grand Jury
2004-2005
Quick View
Full Details →
Findings & Recommendations
4 findings
F2:
The intake entrance to the jail is a wide-open, unsecured area. There are many other public buildings close by, as well as a large parking lot in which someone could hide. If an inmate were to try and escape, it would put many innocent people in harm’s way. This open area is also the route used by jail staff when escorting inmates to court, again causing a high-security risk to inmates as well as staff. Calaveras is the only county in California that does not have secure, indoor access from jail to court.
F3:
There was one negative finding in the Fire/Life Safety Report, regarding Section 1207.5, Article 11, California Code of Regulations, Title 15, which states, “An additional mental health screening will be performed, according to written procedures, on women who have given birth within the past year and are charged with murder or attempted murder of their infants. Such screening will be performed at intake and, if the assessment indicates postpartum psychosis, a referral for further evaluation will be made.” Although a Registered Nurse examines all inmates upon intake, the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department does not have a written policy in place to meet the requirement of Section 1207.5.
F4:
The Grand Jury inspected the jail library and found it stocked with a variety of books as well as with an up-to-date law library.
F5:
The kitchen is clean and well run, and it should be noted that it continues to pass all health inspections with high marks. In fact, its scores are generally higher than many restaurants in the county. The kitchen is staffed by low-risk inmates who wear blue uniforms. Inmates wearing orange uniforms, which are used for the 13 general population, or those wearing red uniforms, which indicates a high-risk prisoner, are not allowed to work in the kitchen. Commendation The food service manager, who has served the county jail for 16 years, is to be commended. It is generally held that good prisoner behavior is directly related to the quality and presentation of the meals that are served. Reponses Requested No response required GENERAL FINDING The Grand Jury’s tour of the facility exposes, once more, several troubling issues due to the number of convicted criminals who returned to our communities without completing their sentences. There is a clear and present danger to the citizens of Calaveras County. We are concerned with the revolving door that exists due to jail over-population. The crime rate is increasing in many of our communities and, at present, neither the Sheriff’s Department nor the Board of Supervisors has offered any adequate solutions. The age of the facility has presented issues with meeting current code for public buildings. If this jail had to close or suspend service for any amount of time, current building codes would not allow us to re-open the facility and this County would be left without accommodations for adult offenders. Currently, the inmate holding areas are not designed to accommodate officer or inmate safety. Holding cells in modern jails are equipped with viewing windows which allow for constant inmate monitoring. Our current facility has cells with blind corners requiring guards to risk personal safety in order to monitor inmates. The narrow doorways minimize the guards’ ability to deal with aggressive, hostile, or violent inmates. It is well understood that a new jail facility will present solutions to many of our current concerns; however, there is no Federal, State, or County money currently allocated for a new facility. According to the Sheriff, it will take approximately four to five years for a new facility to be completed and functional after the funding has been secured.
Findings & Recommendations
5 findings
F1:
There is a lack of consistency in the permit process for septic systems and there may be several reasons why a septic permit may not be granted initially. The process for the on- site inspection is as follows: The landowner contracts with an engineer and requests a permit from the Building Department for a profile inspection by a County onsite sewage inspector. Pursuant to the initial issuing of the inspection permit, the inspector and the engineer conduct a visual inspection of three holes dug on the property to check the strata, soil type, and sewage drainage abilities of the lot. The outcome of the inspection can be one of two scenarios: One - The inspector and the engineer agree that the lot can sustain a standard or engineered sewage system and they agree on the type of system. At this point, the installation portion of the Permit for Individual Sewage Disposal System is completed. The Onsite Sewage Disposal Site Investigation Report is completed by the inspector and placed in the County records. The engineer informs the landowner of the outcome. The landowner is then issued a final permit for a sewage disposal system; or Two - The County inspector determines and indicates on the Onsite Sewage Disposal Site Investigation Report that, “Conditions observed on the parcel do not appear to meet current County regulation for subsurface sewage disposal. Final determination should be provided by a private consultant based upon a more thorough investigation than provided by the department.” This report may be falsely interpreted to mean that the property will never be able to support a sewage disposal system and that the value of the land is adversely affected. The report, however, only states that more work needs to be done before a final determination can be made. A landowner has the option to further employ the septic engineer to do additional tests on the lot and perhaps design an engineered, or an experimental engineered, septic plan that may meet the County regulations. Some landowners do not wish to take on the expense of further 18 investigation, since there is a risk of the property not passing. Additionally, there may be higher costs incurred by the use of engineered or experimental septic systems. Each of these steps, including additional inspections by the Building Department, require further costs. It is often the builders that are financially able to continue the process in the hopes that the lot will eventually obtain a permit for an individual sewage disposal system. Landowners can be left with a devalued piece of property if they choose to walk away.
F2:
The use of experimental engineered septic systems has become quite extensive in Calaveras County due to the rise in property values which encourages the development of sites that would not otherwise be buildable. The issuing of permits for individual sewage disposal systems is at the sole discretion of the Building Official.
F3:
Although there are many experimental system manufacturers, one company based out-of-state has planted itself firmly in Calaveras County by setting up training classes locally and maintaining a well-orchestrated marketing campaign.
F4:
It came to the attention of the Grand Jury that some staff members at the Building Department recommend specific septic engineers and installers. For example, without 19 any investigation or soil report, Building Department staff made statements that an engineered system would be mandatory in the Valley Springs area. The Building Official was made aware of this issue and stated that the staff would be instructed to end any such practice.
F5:
At the time of the March 2005 interview with the Building Official, the Grand Jury was denied access to the Policies and Procedures Manual; therefore, we were unable to determine whether the Department adheres to their own policies and procedures.
Quick View
Full Details →
Findings & Recommendations
1 findings
F1:
The jail facility, built in 1963, was designed to house a maximum of 47 inmates. In 1960, the population of Calaveras County was 10,200. In January of 1992, a court order increased the maximum jail population to 65. The population of the County in 1990 was 31,998. The 2000 census reports the County population as 40,554. The Chamber of Commerce projects that population in 2005 will be 43,500. The Sheriff’s Office estimates an increase of population on weekends and holidays to 80,000- 100,000, with an increase to 120,000 on Frog Jump weekend. The jail capacity remains at 65. With the population growth of Calaveras County in recent years, crime has increased, including an increase of misdemeanor offenses as it becomes widely known that little, if any, time will be spent in jail because of capacity limits. At 5:00 pm each day many inmates are released. Statistics indicate that early release encourages repeat offenses, as offenders know that little time will be served. Time not served in the first three and a half months of 2005 amounts to almost 18 years, with 180 inmates released prematurely due to jail over-crowding. The total unserved jail time in 2004 was 52 years. Taxpayer’s money is wasted by the court’s sentencing of convicted offenders to jail terms that will not be served because of the over-crowded jail. Recidivism continues to be a problem in Calaveras County.