VISTA (KGTV) — The San Diego County Sheriff's Office says the Vista jail needs to be replaced, with an estimated price tag of $949 million for a new facility.
Commander Christopher Lawrence said critical systems inside the current jail are failing.
"There's critical systems inside the facility that are failing. That includes plumbing, electrical, some of our security systems that are decades old, and, uh, it's just, it's beyond what we can do repair work on anymore," Lawrence said.
Beyond aging infrastructure, Lawrence said the philosophy behind incarceration has shifted significantly since the facility was built.
"Just the thought process behind incarceration back then it was really, put him away, lock them away and leave them there, and it was designed as a short-term stay facility...now we're housing people for years in a facility that was designed for temporary holding," Lawrence said.
The jail currently holds more than 800 people, leaving limited space for services and programs. A new facility would address that.
When asked how taxpayers can trust the Sheriff's Office to be responsible stewards of nearly $1 billion, given the jail's history of lawsuits, deputy arrests and inmate deaths, Lawrence pointed to improved care as the goal.
"We need to make it a better space so that we can provide better medical, better mental health care, making sure that they have the space that they need. Plus improving the spaces for our employees to work in. If you have a happy, healthy employee, they're gonna provide better services as well, and so that's something that we need to come alongside our employees also to make sure that we're taking care of them so that they can provide the best service possible, and that's all the goals," Lawrence said.
The county has already provided $3 million for the design phase of the project. The next step is working with an architect on the interior design. Lawrence said the full project is estimated to take 7 to 10 years to complete.
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