Board approves design‑build award for North Branch Jail expansion after public demands for flexibility and oversight

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously July 7 to award a design‑build contract for the North Branch Jail Expansion Project (Project No. 23040), moving the project from procurement to the design phase.

The board action followed a presentation from General Services assistant director JD Patton and a lengthy public comment period in which residents, criminal‑justice advocates and service providers urged flexibility in design and stronger behavioral‑health and attorney‑client meeting space.

Patton said the design‑build approach will allow the county and the selected contractor to collaborate on a final configuration and to incorporate stakeholder input. “As we transition to the next phase and award the contract, we will continue that collaboration effort…with the community to ensure that we get the stakeholder input to refine the design,” he said.

Public commenters repeatedly warned that a large fixed‑capacity build could become a long‑term cost burden if jail populations continue to decline. Lawrence Severance of the League of Women Voters told supervisors the recommended contract would cost about $167,380,000 to build roughly 340–384 beds — “about $436,000 per bed” — and urged the board to require periodic design‑phase reviews and substantial flexibility so parts of the facility could be taken out of service if necessary.

Other speakers, including former county officials and criminal‑justice advocates, pressed for dedicated behavioral‑health treatment space and confidential meeting rooms to allow public defenders and medical staff to meet with people in custody. A number of commenters noted falling jail populations in recent months and urged the county to plan for alternative uses of excess capacity.

In discussion the board asked staff to lay out a governance structure for design decisions and a transition plan for consolidating operations into the Northern Branch that would allow decommissioning of the main (South County) jail over time. Supervisor Joan Hartman said she supported the design‑build method so long as the board retains meaningful milestone reviews: “We want a jail designed to meet our policies,” she said, pressing staff to ensure public‑benefit elements are incorporated.

Supervisor Capps moved the staff recommendation to award the contract; Supervisor Hartman seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

What comes next: staff said it will finalize the governance plan and host public engagement sessions after the contract is executed, including milestone reports to the board during the design phase. The board also directed staff to ensure behavioral‑health and attorney‑meeting needs are considered in the program and to detail options for reducing operating costs through phased use or decommissioning of older facilities.