Supervisors halt jail construction plans, order working group to study alternatives

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Dec. 15 amended and sent back to committee several items tied to a proposed rehabilitation and detention facility, tabling interim construction funding and ordering a working group to study mental‑health and alternative investments before any commitment to a new jail.

President Breed said she would remove the financing that committed the city to a new jail and instead limit certificates of participation to cover land acquisition while directing a cross‑agency working group to plan for the permanent closure of county jails 3 and 4 and to identify investments in mental‑health and diversion programs.

Breed said the board needed to “tear down the system of mass incarceration” tied to the old Hall of Justice and to ensure any replacement reflected the city’s priorities on treatment and diversion. “I am certainly not opposed to a new facility next to 850 Bryant, but I am strongly opposed to this jail,” she said, arguing the proposal was “too big, it’s too expensive, and it’s too singularly focused on incarcerating people.”

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