Building Department

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.

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.

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.

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.