North County Jail in Santa Barbara Set to Close

The Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office has notified the chiefs of the Santa Maria and Guadalupe Police Departments and the commander of the local CHP office that the North County Jail and Substation will be closing, effective June 27th.

The 20-bed facility houses people arrested in the Santa Maria Valley area for a wide variety of criminal offenses.

Santa Barbara County is facing a budget deficit of $70 million. Sheriff Bill Brown said that closing the jail and substation will save over $1 million each year. His entire department is facing nearly $8 million in budget cuts, resulting in the loss of 62 positions.

While the move will save millions of dollars, it will also strike a hefty financial blow to the Santa Maria and Guadalupe Police Departments.

Instead of being able to take anyone arrested in their jurisdictions to a jail nearby, officers will now have to transport them to the main Santa Barbara County Jail over 70 miles away.

According to Your Central Coast News, Chief Dan Macagni of the Santa Maria Police Department said, “Huge, it’s 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.”

Santa Barbara County Undersheriff Jim Petersen said, “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.”

If the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors can allocate funds for the facility during their upcoming budget meeting on Monday, the facility will have the chance to remain open.

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