Santa Clara County’s efforts to construct new jail facilities have repeatedly stalled due to rising costs and ongoing disagreements among officials and residents, but the deteriorating infrastructure is propelling the county to finally move forward.
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously voted to proceed with a multistep plan to overhaul and modernize Main Jail North and Elmwood Correctional Facility. There are eight phases to the plan, with the first three phases slated for completion by 2034. Those phases include a decrease in the number of beds in the main jail; construction of a two-story 56,000-square-foot intake, booking and short-term housing building attached to main jail; building medical and behavioral health facilities at Elmwood; and a new male bed facility at Elmwood, demolishing the old location.
County officials said the plan is a replacement rather than an expansion, with supervisors placing a heavy emphasis on prioritizing medical and mental healthcare, along with rehabilitation and reentry services. One of the priorities is to reduce the main jail’s capacity by 1,011 beds, from 4,872 to 3,861, with the ultimate goal of eliminating an additional 404 beds once the project is completed.
Supervisor Susan Ellenberg, one of two current supervisors who sat on the board the last time the cost of a new jail was discussed in 2022, said the county cannot opt out of its duty to operate a jail…