LA County Sheriff Proposes $1.4 Billion Jail Plan

The Chief Executive along with Sheriff Lee Baca pitched a plan to demolish and rebuild the LA County Men’s Central Jail (commonly known as the Twin Towers Jail) and build a new women’s detention facility at Pitchness Detention Center. The estimated cost for this plan is $1.4 billion.

According to William Fujioka, the top executive for LA County, the new plan will “allow the Sheriff’s Department to better manage the fluctuating and volatile inmate populations in the county’s jail facilities and address jail conditions cited by the US District Court.”

Los Angeles County houses the highest inmate population in the country and now has to comply with the ruling set by the Supreme Court to improve conditions of the jails and reduce the number of inmates.

The proposed plans will include three 10-story towers to replace the Men’s Central Jail, built in 1963. For female inmates, the Pitchness facility will be constructed as a “village-style” compound.

Sheriff Baca’s plans will allow for an additional 393 beds for inmates, increasing the possible high-security inmate population to 4,054. It is expected that the county’s total inmate population will hit 5,619 by the end of June.

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