Downum To Argue His Case In Sacramento Today
Sacramento, CA — Calaveras County Sheriff Dennis Downum will be in Sacramento today for a one o´clock meeting with the Corrections Standards Authority to argue his case for a new jail facility.
Just a week after voters approved a $31 million bond issue for a new 240 bed facility, a jail construction executive steering committee comprised of county representatives and law enforcement personnel has recommended allocating $600 million of the total state funds available for counties with populations of 700,000 plus.
Only $50 million would be set aside for the 31 California counties with fewer than 200,000 residents. Calaveras, alone, is seeking $30 million from the state.
Downum says it is traditional that the larger counties will almost always gain the lion´s share of any federal or state funding, but at the same time he´s confident that his statements in Sacramento today will not fall on deaf ears. Downum is hopeful that he´ll receive a positive response from the state close to December 1.
The recently passed bond issue would provide $10 million for the county´s 25 percent share of the total cost of the jail, $14 million for the administration, communications and 911 dispatch facility, $6 million for infastructure and $1 million for bond insurance.
Written by Bill Johnson
