Santa Cruz County's first new jail in decades will open by July

May 12--WATSONVILLE -- Each of the 64 long-term inmates who earn transfer to the Rehabilitation and Re-entry Facility near Watsonville will choose a vocational track: construction or hospitality studies.

The roughly $25 million, 16,000-square-foot space for housing, visiting, administration, intake and release at 100 Rountree Lane was built in a year and a half. The minimum-security jail, which is slated to house inmates starting July 1, was celebrated during a ceremony and ribbon-cutting on Friday.

It is the first new jail opened in Santa Cruz County in almost 25 years, Sheriff Jim Hart said.

"What a difference 20 months makes," Hart told the group of county and state leaders at Friday's event.

The concrete, metal-roofed buildings have a computer lab, culinary arts and construction labs, and a central housing area where each inmate will sleep on a single bunk flanking a small steel desk. Quarters are separated by four-foot partitions. Sitting on a bunk -- a spongy gray mattress over two bins -- an inmate will be able to see over the rows of partitions toward the two flatscreens, sofas and game tables in the common area nearby.

Showers, too, are separated. Throughout, mounted photos display surfing, the redwoods and scenic images of Santa Cruz County. Outside, there are gardening plots for agriculture studies, workout stations, a basketball court and track from which the Moss Landing Power Plant stacks are visible through a nearly 20-foot chain-link fence that isn't topped with barbed wire.

The jail reflects a new era of crime and punishment in California: State legislation for nearly a decade has aimed to reduce criminal sentences and prison crowding while boosting initiatives to fight criminal recidivism.

The minimum-security jail is spread over 8 acres beside the Rountree Medium Facility. Rountree opened in the early 1970s as an "honor camp" for "low-end misdemeanants," Hart said. Most of those offenders no longer face jail time.

The new jail will house "prison realignment" inmates serving up to 12 years for low-level felonies in an already crowded Santa Cruz County Main Jail. Those inmates would have served time in state prison before the sweeping criminal justice reforms unleashed in California since 2011.

"Classroom space is not going to be a challenge here," Hart said.

A long hall of rooms for classes, interviews, counseling and workshops will house the inmates 8-11 a.m. and 1-4 p.m. Monday to Friday. The rooms are equipped with an easy-to-push "DURESS" red button by the door to call for help in an emergency.

"During the day, these men will be busy in class," said Sgt. Karen Wells, who will work at the new site, which is "much different" than the industrial and sterile main jail setting. "Any one of us can end up in here. These are people who have made bad choices."

Wells has worked in corrections in Santa Cruz County for 16 years.

"It's amazing to see where we are now: providing treatment and trying to get people back on their feet, helping them become productive members of society," Wells said.

As with children, the inmates exhibit their best behavior when they are busy, Wells said.

Lt. Fred Plageman, who will supervise the new jail, said the facility is designed to break the inmates' cycles of violence.

"We're going to be occupying a lot of their time," Plageman said. "There's not going to be a lot of wasted time here. We're trying to reverse years of bad habits and impulsive decision-making. The officers here are more like coaches."

Another difference: Re-entry inmates, or those who soon will be released, will be able to visit their families one-on-one, not from behind glass, Sgt. Brian Cleveland said.

Through treatment and intervention, the county can reduce the number of people who offend again, Santa Cruz County Administrative Officer Carlos Palacios said.

"For more than two decades, Santa Cruz County has been a leader in criminal-justice reform," Palacios said. "We are now seen as a national leader in the field."

Linda Penner, chairwoman of the Board of State and Community Corrections, said Santa Cruz County's new jail's opening is one of three she has attended in California this week, including ceremonies in Kern and Kings counties.

"This is one of the most innovative I have seen," Penner said. "You led the way."

The county's largest employers will work with corrections officials to link the realignment inmates with job opportunities after their release, said Cynthia Chase, the Corrections Bureau program coordinator and a Santa Cruz city councilwoman.

"This facility is programmed much like a high school. They get to choose a track, construction or hospitality," Chase said.

Inmates studying construction will learn all entry-level skills, said Mark Hodges, the senior director of Santa Cruz County Career Technical Education Partnership.

Landscaping, agriculture, parenting, writing, computer literacy and domestic-violence prevention also will be taught at the Rehabilitation and Re-entry Facility.

Public defender Larry Biggam said he hopes the innovative jail will reduce delays for attorneys waiting to meet clients at the crowded main jail along Water Street.

"It's too bad you have to break the law to get in here," Biggam said.

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