Town hall reviews visit

Officials from the National Institute of Corrections wrapped up a three-day visit to the Mission Valley last week with a town hall meeting, reviewing what they noted during their stay.

Beginning on Wednesday, Nov. 29 through Friday, Dec. 1, NIC conducted a jail and justice system assessment, at the request of Lake County Sheriff Don Bell.

Surveys were distributed to local and state justice entities in the county, and an inspection of the current jail was conducted, all at no cost to the county.

“The purpose (of the study) was to get the community information so they can get behind me and the commissioners to see if they want to move forward to the next step in the assessment, to see what we need,” Bell said.

Findings of the processes were shared with about 35 individuals during Friday’s town hall meeting, with six citizens and the rest county employees.

Following the four-hour meeting, Bell said that NIC did not give the final report, but it is expected in the coming weeks.

“Some of the basic things they said were the same” as an evaluation performed by NIC in 2007, he said.

Some points from 2007 were corrected or improved, while one concern is still space at the jail, which usually holds 45-50 people daily.

Another point that NIC stated was that adding on to the current courthouse is not recommended, and that a new facility is needed.

Among those in attendance at the meeting was Judge Kim Christopher.

She explained Monday during a phone interview that the original courthouse building has had additions over the years, and to move the NIC process forward there needs to be participation from the citizens, disclosing what they would like for the jail.

“The jail will have to be something that (county residents) support,” she said, adding that the process to evaluate the current building is in an infancy stage once again, after attempts in the past have fallen through.

“This is the initial (stage),” Bell explained, and the next phase would include determining how many beds would be needed to serve the valley, including law enforcement, mental health and alcohol and drug treatment.

One thing that Christopher said would help the entire process is county residents sharing input, but she recognizes it is hard for citizens to make the meetings “because they have lives they lead.”

Until the next steps are outlined and processed, Christopher said that the county will have to wait and see whether officials and the county decide to go forward with a new jail, which she said is a costly investment.

Reiterating her point, Christopher said that “the bottom line is the jail will have to be” something that the citizens support.