Jail Funding; State Says Yes … Tuolumne County Says No

Sonora, CA — It´s official; the Corrections Standards Authority offered Tuolumne County $13 million to go toward a new jail facility and the county said “thanks, but no thanks” by a three-to-one vote of the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

At the same time the county remains in the process of purchasing 48 acres of land for a new facility. The property is located south of Hwy 108 and just east of Old Wards Ferry Rd.

At the Tuesday Board meeting Chair Dick Pland commented that at the present time the county simply has too much on its plate to accept the state funding and move full speed ahead. He cited the Jamestown Landfill project as one example of costly ongoing county projects.

CAO Craig Pedro has stated that the yet-to-be-completed Environmental Impact Report (EIR) could be prejudiced if the county accepted the state funds.

Wednesday Sheriff Jim Mele said that now is an extremely difficult time to launch such a new project given the state of California´s economy. At the same time Mele added that the process will continue with architectual plans for a facility that according to Pland could cost $120 million.

Written by Bill Johnson