County presents community engagement plan, technical assessment approach for jail facility transformation

The Santa Clara County Office of the County Executive presented the committee with a community engagement plan and an overview of the technical assessment process for custodial facility improvements that were referred by the Board of Supervisors in October 2024.

Deputy County Executive Consuelo Hernandez said county staff will run a multi-part engagement combining broad public outreach, targeted stakeholder sessions and an advisory committee to inform a phase-two recommendation after the technical assessment. Hernandez said staff included redlined draft documents in the packet to show changes and improve transparency.

Hernandez told the committee there is strong public interest in the facility work and acknowledged community concerns about participating in facility design conversations if participants oppose incarceration generally. “We want people to come along this process with us. And at the conclusion of the first phase, we will have an advisory committee that is playing that role, but recognizing that ultimately the board is the one that will make the decision on what we do next with their input and their information provided,” she said.

Staff described the contractor scope: the vendor under contract will conduct a physical and operational assessment, review seismic and life-safety systems, and run stakeholder sessions with custody, custody health, behavioral health, facilities, reentry-program participants and other operational partners. Hernandez said the vendor will also convene groups of people currently participating in jail programs to gather their experience.

County staff said engagement will also make connections between the facility assessment and other policy items that influence jail population, such as discussions on $0 bail and reentry services. Hernandez said the county has started discussions with the Reentry Community Advisory Board executive committee to design outreach that invites people with lived experience into frank conversations and to shape engagement modalities.

Supervisors and committee members discussed trade-offs and noted the work will include difficult policy choices and budget considerations. County officials acknowledged that facility assessments may show substantial investment needs, require a phased approach and have timing and funding constraints.

A motion to receive the community engagement plan and technical assessment update (item 6) was made, seconded and approved on roll call. County staff said the next steps are to complete the technical assessment, convene an advisory committee at the close of the assessment’s first phase, and return to the board with recommended options that will include both facility-condition findings and possible policy levers affecting population and programming.

Why it matters: the facility transformation work integrates technical facility needs, compliance obligations and community priorities. The engagement plan aims to gather input from people with lived experience, operational partners and broader community stakeholders before the board considers options and funding for facility investments.