Santa Barbara County Board Set to Vote on $167 Million Jail Design

Santa Barbara Santa Maria San Luis Obispo, CA, October 14, 2026 —

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors is set to vote on a proposed $167 million design for the North Branch Jail replacement. A community group is questioning why the plan retains 880 beds and calls for all six new housing units to be built to hardened high-security standards.

The group’s questions come amid a recent decline in the jail’s average daily population, according to the information provided. The summary does not state the size or duration of that decline, or provide figures for current or projected jail population. It also does not identify the community group or describe its specific requests regarding the design.

The proposal combines a specified bed count with the same high-security construction standard for each of the six new housing units. The information provided does not explain the county’s rationale for those design choices, whether alternative designs were considered, or how the $167 million figure is calculated. It does not say whether the proposed amount covers only design or other parts of the replacement project.

The board’s vote is pending. No meeting date, vote outcome, or details about the next steps in the project were provided. The available information also does not specify how the proposed 880-bed capacity compares with the jail’s current capacity.

The central issue before the vote, as described in the summary, is whether the proposed capacity and security specifications should remain in the design despite the reported population decline. The summary does not indicate what changes, if any, supervisors may consider.

Story summarized from the original created by Indy Staff on www.independent.com, see more information here.