Modoc County Grand Jury
• 2023-2024
• Agency Response
Modoc County 204 S. Court Street*
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 6 findings
F1
On February 21, 2017, the Modoc County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution authorizing the County to participate in the SB 844, Adult Local Criminal Justice Facilities Construction Financing Program to build a new facility in Alturas. $24,516,000 of taxpayer funds has been set aside to build the new facility. To date, construction has been delayed. In an interview with the Modoc County Sheriff, he hopes to have the facility completed by 2028. RI. Money was allocated to build a new jail facility in 2017, seven years ago. MCGJ recommends that all efforts be made to move the building of the new facility forward by October 2024, so that the Sheriff's efforts to have the new facility completed by 2028 will become a reality. It is recommended that the 2024-2025 MCGJ follow up with R1 to monitor the progress of the building of the new jail in Alturas, and to provide a progress report for the Board of Supervisors and County Administrative Officer for the timeline of commencement and completion of construction of the new facility. Direction to staff: The County of Modoc would continue to advocate at the state level to revise the legislation to allow for unused funds from other agencies to be reallocated to counties with active grants. This method is very limited due to the realignment of the bond capacity to be spent on other state priorities that were not directly correlated with the legislation. The financing for the facility while secured, is not fully funded. Financing cannot be added to the facility because the County of Modoc is not the owner of the facility once it is built, the State of California would be the owner. The County of Modoc has budgeted and is working to obtain an updated jail needs assessment. The scope of the project is not under the control of the County but is dependent on census data and statistics of jail inmates. If the cost estimates come in at a reasonable amount, the County would look for alternative funding methods to augment the grant for the construction of the new jail facility.
No recommendations for this finding
F2
The camera system currently being used by deputies to monitor inmates was installed in 1978. It is dated, has no audio, and does not cover all areas of the facility. Updated cameras are needed throughout the building. The current camera monitoring system is centrally located in the squad room.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
It is recommended that installation of more cameras with audio capabilities, including a 360- degree camera system that covers all areas of the building be installed by January 2025, for the safety of both the staff and the inmates. The Board of Supervisors are asked to include this in the 2024-2025 budget and every year forward until the new facility is built. MCJ and MCSO leadership should ensure current security systems are fully operational and upgraded to the extent possible within current budgetary constraints. Direction to staff: The Sheriff's office is working to bring a proposal for a camera system before the Board of Supervisors and the Office of Administration is looking to find funding sources to support the proposal in the final adopted budget for 2024-2025.
F3
As with any old building, the old jail has issues. Plumbing and electrical throughout the building is 50 years old and in need of being updated. Leaks and clogs create a health and safety hazard for both staff and inmates. Overhead lighting is not working in some areas with wires have been pulled out by inmates. Wiring for the lighting in the common areas needs to be more secure in the walls, to eliminate inmates pulling on and breaking the wires.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors approve additional funding to provide a budget for maintaining and updating the plumbing and electrical of the current jail building so as to minimize leaks, and clogging of the old water pipes and to eliminate the issue of inmates manipulating exposed wiring, creating a safety hazard for inmates and staff. This funding can be added to the 2024-2025 budget and every year forward until the new facility is built. Direction to staff: Funding for improvements to the jail have been incorporated prior to 2024- 2025 and has already been incorporated into the recommended roll-over 2024-2025 budget. With the exception of electrical, the items to improve the jail have been ordered through the Sheriff's Office and the County would be using resiliency funding and the Criminal Justice Temporary Construction to complete the improvements.
F4
The jail needs additional female deputy staff. As of December 2023, the jail was understaffed for both male and female deputies and especially female deputies.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
While the current staff does an outstanding job at maintaining the jail and meeting the needs of the inmates, it is inadequate to expect the two current female deputies to be available during their time off. It is recommended that programs be offered to the community and the county to encourage females to become deputies by January 2025. For example, it would be beneficial to the local high school. They have a program for students to become involved in law enforcement. A bonus or monthly stipend for female deputies would entice more women to join the force. Direction to staff: Finding female correctional officers has continued to be a challenge but the Sheriff's Office has continued to recruit female officers on social media and other media. The Sheriff's Office and the Office of Emergency Services have been asked to take over the high school public safety program which would offer another opportunity to conduct recruiting at the high school level.
F5
According to jail staff, at least a third of the population of the MCJ are deemed mentally incompetent by the jail staff interviewed, with no resources on site, and support from Modoc Medical Center and local programs coming only in urgent cases.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
It is understood that more resources for mental patients is a state-wide problem. However, several of Modoc's issues would be mitigated with the building of the new jail, providing more individualized rooms for medical treatment, mental health evaluation, and social programs. According to the California Legislature's Nonpartisan Fiscal and Policy Advisor, psychologists determined that inmates with special mental health needs spend three times the number of days in jail per booking and three times the number of times booked as inmates without special mental health needs. Mental health inmates cost three times more to house compared to inmates with no mental health issues. Deputies are not fully equipped or trained to work with mental health issues. A full-time mental health staff person would better service inmates with mental health needs. Direction to staff: The priority of the project is more than building a new jail facility. Of equal importance, the County must ensure there is adequate staffing inside the jail with correctional and mental health staff. This will continue to be an issue due to the reduction in county funding due to a population reduction. The County has an interdepartmental Memorandum of Understandings (MOU) with the Modoc County Health Department in the absence of other providers in Modoc County for mental health services. The State of California contracts with the Modoc County Health Department to provide services in the Modoc County jail through Wellpath Care. This was not the standard practice in the past for other counties but is becoming a standard due to providers canceling contracts to provide mental health services in jail facilities. Individuals with behavioral health issues are spending more time than necessary in county jail facilities but the additional time is not necessarily due to the mental health staffing. The additional time in county jails for inmates can be correlated to current laws, the court system, and the current delay in the court system to process an inmate timely. The time frame for an individual to move through the justice sys?tem is extremely problematic for the County of Modoc. Modoc County Behavioral Health has been a tremendous partner in assisting the Modoc County jail with mental health needs and should be commended for the important work they conduct in the jail.
F6
Multiple windows in the facility are cracked in the doors, windows, and walls from inmates throwing or banging items against them.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
Immediate repairs/replacement are needed for all the cracked windows in the doors, especially the mental health and sobering cell doors, windows, and walls from inmates throwing or banging items against them. Inmates can be cut or injured from the cracks and broken glass. Direction to staff: The County of Modoc responds immediately to repairs as they occur. Repairs to the jail facility are ongoing as inmates often damage the facility on a daily basis. If should have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our County Administrative Officer at (530) 233-7660. Sincerely, Share of Starr Shane Starr Chair of the Board
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.