Supervisors Support New Detention Center, Are Hesitant About Cost

Sonoma County leaders like the idea of a new detention and probation facility being built in Santa Rosa, but they're unsure about spending $11.5 million per year to run it.

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday moved forward with a bid to request an extra $24 million from the state–on top of the $36 million the state has already pledged–to build the $67 million, 160-bed facility.

The Press Democrat says two supervisors called the $11.5 million ongoing cost the "elephant in the room," and Supervisor Mike McGuire said he wouldn't be comfortable fully backing the project until officials have a deeper discussion about that cost.

The facility would be built next to the county jail, and would lock up offenders in a minimum-security area; it would also include "halfway house-type lodging" for offenders on probation or with an alternative sentencing, the Press Democrat reported.

A local road-advocacy group issued a statement earlier this week urging the county to instead focus its dollars on repairing Sonoma County's roadways. Supervisor David Rabbitt told the Press Democrat the two tasks aren't mutually exclusive.

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