Santa Barbara County Recommended to Receive $38.9 Million

The Santa Barbara sheriffs department received great news on Thursday. The county was recommended to receive $38.9 million in jail funding to be used to create S.T.A.R. complex at the new North County jail.

“We now await the entire board of community corrections approval of the grant, and that should occur at a meeting on January 16th,” said Santa Barbara Sheriff Bill Brown.

The grant is in addition to another $80 million grant that was already approved to build the new jail facility in Santa Maria.

“It was a very rigorous competition. I’m very proud of our team that put together a winning proposal,” said Brown.

The money will help build a rehabilitation center in a separate building on the property of the new jail complex. The idea is to keep offenders from committing new crimes, and it could also create a boost to the economy.

“This is a huge injection of additional funds that will come to the community. The economic benefits of this will be wonderful at a time when we need jobs,” said Brown.