Tag archives: jail
At the April 1 Supervisor meeting a variety of monumental decisions were made – not the least of which was a 3-2 vote approving a $179M expansion of our North County Jail Mahal. A more hopeful sidenote, however, had to do with decisions that the Board made regarding our majestic open spaces. Allow me to […]
On April 1st, our Supervisors made decisions relating to new jail construction (384 beds) and in-custody care that will cost us $200M. These decisions – ones that will affect our County for decades – were squeezed into a 45-item agenda that included such things as proclaiming the week of April 21 “International Dark Sky Week.” […]
This summer, the Santa Barbara County Grand Jury investigating four deaths in our jails concluded that the death of JT was not “accidental” as determined by the sheriff-coroner, but needed to be investigated by the California Attorney General as a homicide. The jury concluded: “JT died in a jail cell while suffering from a mental […]
While Superintendent Hilda Maldonado knows there is plenty of work to come, a three-year-long court battle with Fair Education Santa Barbara (FESB) concluded last week, with the Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD) and Just Communities Central Coast (JCCC) victorious after a three-justice appellate court panel ruled in their favor. The lawsuit filed by FESB […]
I’ve only been in court twice in my life, and the first time, in 1956, resulted in a jail sentence. I was 21, recently immigrated from England, and eager for new American experiences. Driving my first car, I had received a ticket for going over an occupied pedestrian crossing. (Since then, I’ve mostly been a […]
I’ve been studying to be a docent at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse and learning historical facts. I never knew that the building at the back part of the Courthouse with the turret on top was once our jail. The first floor held the sheriff’s offices (it still does), the second floor was for the […]
