A new jail serving north San Diego County would cost some $950 million and take nine years to construct — if the work were to begin today, Sheriff Kelly Martinez told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. The replacement costs for the Vista Detention Facility would climb even higher if the spending were delayed, the sheriff warned. Construction costs are generally rising some 3% per year, she said. San Diego County’s other jails need $289 million in immediate infrastructure upgrades and renovations because virtually all of the detention facilities have exceeded their useful lifespans, Martinez added. Martinez also said the Sheriff’s Office will need dozens of new deputies, medical and mental health workers and planning and design experts to pull off a systemwide remake of the county’s aging detention facilities. “We must make decisions soon, because the costs will continue to escalate,” she said. “This is not just a health issue; it’s a human dignity issue … Deferred maintenance is not a savings, it is a complicating liability.” The sheriff’s presentation lacked details on exactly how much her office needs to make long-delayed repairs and improvements. Last month, Martinez told the Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board that an outside consultant had finished a needs assessment and that she would be presenting it to the Board of Supervisors on Dec. 9. But on Tuesday, Martinez said the overall cost assessment was ongoing, and that she did not want to provide additional details due to “security reasons.” In the run-up to the Tuesday meeting, sheriff’s officials suggested the price tag could reach as high as $3 billion. Martinez, who declined to provide details about overall renovation costs last week, said Tuesday that the $3 billion high end of the investment reported Sunday by The San Diego Union-Tribune was “something of a misquote.” Supervisor Paloma Aguirre said she was grateful the sheriff expected to request much less than that. “It’s great news to hear it’s not the $3 billion that we all read in the paper,” she said. But Aguirre also said she would have appreciated more details about the cost of improvements for each of the county’s seven jails. Martinez did not explain why she told the CLERB last month that the needs assessment was completed but told supervisors that the evaluation was ongoing. The sheriff also did not make any specific funding request Tuesday. In 2023, the Sheriff’s Office released a 10-year modernization plan for county jails that called for spending just under $500 million on upgrades, including some $320 million to rebuild the Vista Detention Facility. County supervisors approved $1.5 million in November 2023 to start planning the Vista jail remodel, but the $500 million modernization plan was not implemented. Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer said Tuesday that the most feasible way to secure financing for the new jail would be to issue a 30-year bond. County officials said typical repayment costs are $6 million a year for every $100 million borrowed. “That’s a pretty sizable expenditure on deferred maintenance, but the real expense is $60 million a year — not $1 billion — for the new jail,” Lawson-Remer said. According to Martinez, each of the county’s jails needs renovations and upgrades. Virtually all of the mechanical systems — plumbing, heating, air conditioning and even security gates — need repairs or replacement. The camera systems are vulnerable to blackouts at any time, which could force deputies to relocate detainees, the sheriff said. Martinez said she would be bringing a $20 million funding request to the board as soon as next month to pay for an updated security system at the Vista jail. “The investment is absolutely needed before a new jail is built,” she said. “This is 1980s technology that could fail at any time and force us to evacuate the jail.” The Central Jail, which was opened next to the Hall of Justice in downtown San Diego in 1998, also has major capital-improvement needs, the sheriff said. The jail was only designed to last until 2020, she said. Martinez said the $26 million in upgrades her office began there earlier this year to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements are expected to be completed in 2026. Even then, she said, generators, water-control and other systems need fixing. “Most of the county’s jail system has exceeded its useful life and without significant investment, will continue to deteriorate and ultimately fail,” Martinez said. The county jails also need reconfigured space to provide services that were not needed or prioritized when the facilities were first designed, she said. She said the jails, designed for short-term stays, are now holding people for years due to changes in state law to address prison overcrowding. She also said her staff cannot provide adequate programming and health care in the existing spaces. The 10-figure investment in new and improved jails would allow her to set a national standard in correctional housing, Martinez told the board. “There are loads of opportunities, and we could really lead the way,” she said. Conditions inside San Diego County’s jails have become a nagging political issue for the sheriff and the Board of Supervisors. Nearly four years ago, the state auditor flagged San Diego jails as the deadliest among California’s large counties. More than 250 men and women have died in San Diego Sheriff’s custody in the past two decades, including 10 so far this year. The deaths have devastated families and cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars in legal settlements and attorney fees. Many of the deaths — including two that were ruled homicides by the county Medical Examiner’s Office — were blamed in part on lapses in medical and mental health care. The Board of Supervisors earlier this year voted to expand CLERB’s jurisdiction to include oversight of jail health care staff and contractors — a move sharply opposed by the sheriff. Supervisors also directed their chief administrator to evaluate creating an Office of Inspector General to monitor conditions in county jails, conduct audits and review Sheriff’s Office internal investigations. A report on that idea is due back early next year. ...read more read less