SURPLUS JAIL CELLS MAY BECOME SOURCE OF MONEY

Santa Clara County Official Says Plan Could Bring In $11 Million A Year

With a surplus of cells and a shortage of money, Santa Clara County jail
officials may soon post a vacancy sign in hope of renting out spare beds to
other local, state and federal prisoners.

By taking advantage of its lowest inmate population in a decade, the Santa
Clara County Department of Correction could raise as much as $11 million a
year, easing a potential $17 million budget cut and avoiding layoffs, said
jail Chief Jim Babcock.

``We do have some room at the inn, so to speak, that we could offer to the
state and federal government to house prisoners,'' Babcock said.
``Regardless of the budget difficulties, it makes sense.''

Santa Clara County's jails have enough beds for 5,378 inmates. While the
population changes daily, it has lately been between 3,800 and 3,900
inmates, the lowest level since about 1993. The population has steadily
declined from a peak of 4,600 in 1998.

Why is anybody's guess. It could be better policing, a dip in the numbers of
young people who are the most likely to commit crimes, or laws such as
Proposition 36, the 2000 initiative that allows treatment instead of
incarceration for non-violent drug offenders.

``There's no one answer,'' Babcock said. ``If I had a real good handle on
it, I could probably be published.''

Expanding Existing Program

Babcock's proposal would expand on something the jail and others already do.
Renting spare cells to local, state and federal authorities is routine
practice in the jail business. Under this proposal, the local program would
dramatically expand.

Santa Clara County currently leases jail cells in its state-of-the-art
psychiatric ward to San Mateo and other nearby counties that don't have room
for mentally ill inmates.

And the jail has always made room for state prison parolees and federal
defendants who must be incarcerated while awaiting court hearings on local
charges. The jail currently has 55 state and 100 federal inmates.

Under the proposal, the jail would solicit more mental patients from other
counties for its psychiatric ward, which has a capacity for 40 inmates and
is almost half empty.

The jail also would offer cells for state parolees and federal defendants
awaiting hearings throughout the Bay Area.

Violent maximum-security prisoners would not be considered. But Babcock said
there is plenty of room for low- and medium-security inmates.

It is virtually impossible to reach full capacity at a jail because various
inmates require different kinds of housing, Babcock said.

Inmates who are sick, suicidal or mentally ill need close medical
supervision. Violent inmates and those facing long sentences require extra
security. Offenders with gang affiliations must be kept apart from their
rivals.

It's unlikely Santa Clara County will face competing proposals from
neighboring jails.

San Mateo County has 800 inmates in a main jail that can hold 1,047, said
sheriff's spokeswoman Bronwyn Hogan. But budget cuts are forcing San Mateo
County to consider closing either its women's jail or minimum-security men's
``honor camp'' and moving those inmates, about 80 in each, to the main jail.

``Renting out jail beds, that would be a very difficult thing to do,
considering we probably will have to fill those beds with our own inmates,''
Hogan said.

Alameda County already rents cells to 700 state and 350 federal prisoners
but, with a slowly rising local inmate population, has no room for more,
said sheriff's Commander Dennis Scheuller.

``If I did, I'd rent to more, but I don't,'' Scheuller said. ``They're
always looking for space, so any jail that has the luxury of having an
excess of beds, most are entering contracts with the state or federal
government to rent bed space.''

Seeking To Avoid Layoffs

The proposal is being presented to the board of supervisors for
consideration. With more than 1,000 jail beds going empty, Babcock is
already considering closing whole units and reassigning staff. And without
the revenue from renting more cells, the jail would almost certainly have to
lay off some employees if the county's worst budget projections hold true,
Babcock said. Under the worst projection, corrections would lose 13.5
percent of its $134 million budget.

``When you're talking $17 million, it's going to mean people,'' Babcock
said. ``That's the really tough reality.''

The jail negotiates a fee for housing each inmate depending on the level of
care and security needed, typically $50 to $55 per day. And there is little
added cost to the jail to rent out spare cells because the biggest expense
- -- guards -- is already on the payroll.

The county must give local inmates priority in the jail, Babcock said. If
there is a surge of local inmates, Santa Clara County would have to turn
away prisoners from other jurisdictions, and forgo the extra revenue they
would bring.

That's highly unlikely, given recent crime trends, Babcock said.