Supervisors press for plan to close seismically unsafe 850 Bryant jail as advocates reject transfers and new beds

The Public Safety & Neighborhood Services Committee held an extended hearing on County Jail Number 4 at 850 Bryant, where supervisors, city analysts, justice partners and dozens of public commenters confronted a narrow set of options to address a seismically unsafe facility that houses mainly pretrial detainees.

"This building is seismically unfit," Supervisor Shamann Walton colleague Supervisor Haney said in opening remarks, calling the lack of a plan for people incarcerated at CJ4 "unacceptable." He noted the building has been marked for demolition since 1996 and said the city needs a clear timeline and transition plan for both incarcerated people and staff.

The Budget and Legislative Analyst (BLA) summarized a report the office released days earlier. Fred Brusseau told the committee that for the current fiscal year the combined costs associated with CJ4 — sheriff operations, capital/real‑estate work and Department of Public Health jail health services — were about $24.7 million. The BLA noted 85 sheriff positions at the facility (roughly 70 deputy sheriffs), about 17 ongoing DPH staff assigned to jail health, an average daily jail rate previously reported at $250.11 per person (FY 2017‑18),…