SANTA MARIA - Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown has sent a letter to the Police Chief of Santa Maria, Guadalupe and the local CHP Commander, informing them the North County Jail and Substation will be closing for good at the end of the month.
The closure of the North County Jail has been a major issue of concern for law enforcement agencies here in the Santa Maria Valley.
The 20 bed jail is where people are booked and held for a variety of criminal offenses and other violations in the Santa Maria Valley area.
As Santa Barbara County prepares for drastic cuts in services, amid a 70 million dollar budget deficit, Sheriff Bill Brown has decided to close the North County Jail Facility.
In the letter sent by Sheriff Bill Brown, he states he has no other choice but to shut down the North County Jail and Substation effective June 27th.
Sheriff Brown also says the move will save more than a million dollars a year, as his department goes through a massive reorganization, amid some eight million dollars in budget cuts.
The irony, though, is that closing the North County Facility delivers a major financial blow to the cash-strapped Santa Maria and Guadalupe Police Departments.
Their officers, as well as the California Highway Patrol, will have to drive anyone they arrest and book all the way to the main Santa Barbara County Jail, near Goleta, which is more than 70 miles away.
Chief Dan Macagni from the Santa Maria Police Department told Your Central Coast News, "Huge, its absolutely huge, the impact is not just to this agency but to the whole Santa Maria Valley. We don't have the resources, we don't have the money and the officers to take people off the street and transport every prisoner we arrest to Goleta."
Jim Petersen, the Santa Barbara County Undersheriff, says "The Sheriff's office is looking at devastating cuts to our budget this year, we're losing 62 positions, 24 people are scheduled to be laid off in just a couple of weeks."
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department says it's possible the North County Jail could stay open if the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors decides to allocate funding for the facility in their upcoming budget.
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors begin budget hearings for public safety on Monday.
