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| Riverside County Jail weigh options |
| By Erica Felci , The Desert Sun , mydesert.com |
| Published: 05/04/2011 |
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Riverside County officials are looking at how to expand the jails in Indio and across the county — a study they hope will reveal a quick, cost-effective solution to the inmate overcrowding problems. The study was endorsed Tuesday as county supervisors took another step toward shelving plans for a 7,200-bed mid-county hub jail that was proposed for Whitewater. Officials don't know how long it will take to study the feasibility and price of expanding the existing jails in Indio or Riverside. But they expect those options will be cheaper than the $300 million needed for the hub jail's first phase, thereby freeing up funding for a new emergency operation system, an expansion of the county hospital and creation of new health care services in the eastern Coachella Valley. Simultaneously, Supervisor Marion Ashley suggested the county might consider a public safety tax to raise additional revenue. But no specifics were debated or agreed on Tuesday. The new direction ends a years-long planning effort for the hub jail that already cost taxpayers about $23 million. “I would strongly argue that we can get to more jail beds sooner for a lot less money by looking at existing facilities and doing some expansions,” Supervisor John Benoit said. “I think we're going to move toward a more rational, fiscally possible way of dealing with our prisoner overcrowding.” Tabling plans for the hub jail requires a series of votes by county supervisors. The hub jail, which was being planned on county-owned land along Interstate 10 in Whitewater, has been considered the top priority project among all of the growing county's capital needs. As recently as March, supervisors endorsed the plan even as financial projections showed the project would use up the county's borrowing capacity through 2020. Based on Tuesday's discussion, a formal resolution amending the capital improvement plan will be brought back to supervisors for a vote. Read More. |
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