Agenda

Return

C.101

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	Monica Nino, County Administrator
Date:	December 7, 2021

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

Report on Marsh Creek Detention Facility usuage and Marsh Creek Range usage and option for future action

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 12/07/2021

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Diane Burgis, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:

Eric Angstadt; 925-655-2042

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: December 7, 2021
Monica Nino, County Administrator

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

ACCEPT the report on Marsh Creek Detention Facility and Range usage history and the options for future action on both facilities.

FISCAL IMPACT:

There is no direct fiscal impact from the actions at this time.

BACKGROUND:

The Sheriff’s Office operates two separate facilities at the Marsh Creek location, a low security detention facility and a range facility.

BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)

The Marsh Creek Detention Facility (MCDF) has been open since 1942, providing a dorm-style atmosphere at the base of Mt. Diablo. Those who are incarcerated there have a significant amount of recreation time and are only required to be in their bunks during count times and overnight; inmates do not reside in jail cells. The MCDF has operated a woodshop for many years. The MCDF looks and feels more like a work camp than a traditional jail, providing a more positive atmosphere than standard jail cells. The MCDF is the only adult detention facility in the county providing this type of environment.

The Average Daily Population (by month) for the Marsh Creek Detention Facility from 2019 through 2021 is:

	2019	2020	2021
January	62	46	19
February	68	48	22
March	70	47	26
April	66	15	23
May	63	0	30
June	59	0	32
July	57	0	37
August	62	0	23
September	55	19	34
October	58	51	28
November	64	40	27
December	49	30
Total Daily Average per year	61	25	27

During the early stages of the COVID pandemic the MCDF was not used. As protocols for social distancing and quarantine were developed MCDF became an important asset in helping spread out inmate populations to prevent and contain the virus. Given the uncertainties around the progression of COVID and the more infectious variants staff recommends the most appropriate time to discuss the future of MCDF would be when the West County Re-entry, Treatment and Housing (WRTH) facility is completed and operational. WRTH would allow for increased options to spread out inmate populations beyond what the detention facilities currently in the system allow, although it would not provide the same lower security atmosphere as MCDF. The annual budgeted operating costs of the MCDF for Fiscal Year (FY) 21/22 is $5.1 million. The majority of that figure is for the salary and benefits costs of the 22 full time equivalent (FTE) positions assigned to the facility. It should be noted that those personnel would likely be assigned to other detention facilities if MCDF were to be closed.

The Marsh Creek Range Facility (MCRF) is a regional training facility. It is used for training by the Office of the Sheriff and law enforcement agencies from Contra Costa County and surrounding counties. Training includes Advanced Officer Training, Basic Police Academy Training, and specialized unit training. Over the past three years, the Range was scheduled for training use 75% of the calendar days (including weekends and holidays). The building maintenance costs for the range buildings are included in the $0.3 million non-salary operating costs for the MCDF noted above. There are no permanent FTE’s assigned to range, rather it is operated by contracted Range Master and 4 trainers paid on a per diem basis for an annual operating cost of $231,000. Those operating costs are partially off set by the revenue raised by charging outside agencies for their use of the facility. That revenue is projected to be $113,000 for FY21/22.

Below is the percentage of scheduled training at the Range by month:

2019
Month	Days	Percentage
January	22	71%
February	22	79%
March	25	81%
April	24	80%
May	20	65%
June	27	90%
July	23	74%
August	27	87%
September	24	80%
October	26	84%
November	26	87%
December	23	74%
Yearly Total	289	79%

2020
Month	Days	Percentage
January	26	84%
February	22	76%
March	21	68%
April	17	57%
May	25	81%
June	20	67%
July	24	77%
August	19	61%
September	22	73%
October	26	84%
November	22	73%
December	20	65%
Yearly Total	264	72%

2021
Month	Days	Percentage
January	19	61%
February	22	79%
March	28	90%
April	26	87%
May	16	52%
June	23	77%
July	24	77%
August	25	81%
September	26	87%
October	21	68%
November	18	60%
December	22	71%
Yearly Total	270	74%

Staff recommends the most appropriate time to discuss future options for the MCRF would be after the County accepts the planned transfer of land from the U.S. Navy at the former Concord Naval Weapons station. Transfer of that land would potentially allow the construction of a new range facility to replace the MCRF. It should be noted that any reuse of the land at MCRF will be complicated by the expected extensive environmental cleanup usually associated with former range facilities. Based on the pace of land transfer and estimated future planning and capital financing time staff would not expect a new range to be completed sooner than 7-10 years, assuming such an action was desired by the Board and Sheriff’s Office. If the MCRF was closed before a new range was constructed the Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies in the County would be severely impacted. The next closest comparable range is Alameda County’s Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) range in Dublin. That range has only 66% of the capacity of the MCRF, 6 ranges at ACSO, 9 ranges at MCRF. It is unlikely Contra Costa County could get enough range access at the Alameda County range, especially based on the amount of use MCRF gets from Alameda County jurisdictions that are themselves unable to schedule time at the ACSO range.