To be eligible for funding consideration, a county shall, to the satisfaction of the board, do all of the following:

(a) Certify that juveniles are not housed in the county’s adult detention facilities, except where authorized by law, and document the existence of, or plans for, separate housing for juveniles.

(b) Document the existence of, or plans for, separate housing for persons detained or arrested because of intoxication, which will prevent mixing of this category of prisoner with other prisoners. If the county has no existing provisions for detoxification housing, it shall make provisions for that housing as part of its proposed project.

(c) Document the existence of, or plans for, separate housing for defendants or convicted prisoners with mental health disorders, which will prevent mixing of this category of prisoner with other prisoners until the time that the responsible health authority or the health authority’s designee clears specific prisoners for nonseparate housing, based on clinical judgment. If the county has no existing provisions for separate housing of prisoners with mental health disorders, it shall make provisions for that housing as part of its proposed project.

(d) (1) Submit a formal project proposal to the board on or before September 30, 1990. The project proposal shall describe the construction or renovation project to be undertaken and shall include an estimated budget for the project. The proposal shall also identify how county funding obligations, both for construction and operation of the facility, will be met. The project proposal shall be consistent with the needs and priorities identified in the needs assessment by the county.

(2) Failure to submit a project proposal shall be deemed a declaration by the county that it does not intend to request its allocation under subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 4497.04, and the amounts allocated in those subdivisions to the county shall be available for reallocation by the board. The board may waive this requirement for submission of a proposal within one year if it determines there are unavoidable delays in the county’s preparation of a project proposal.

(e) Submit architectural drawings that shall be approved by the board for compliance with minimum jail standards and by the State Fire Marshal for compliance with fire safety requirements. If the board concludes that a county’s proposed construction or renovation contains serious design deficiencies that, while they would not require a refusal to enter into the contract, would seriously impair the facility’s functioning, it shall notify the sheriff and the board of supervisors of that county of the deficiencies and shall delay entering into a contract with the county for at least 30 days after mailing the letter. This letter shall be a public record.

(f) The county shall certify that it owns, or has long-term possession of, the construction site.

(g) The county shall have filed a final notice of determination on its environmental impact report with the board.

(h) The county has formally adopted a plan to finance the construction of the proposed facility.

(i) The county shall have submitted a preliminary staffing plan for the proposed facility, along with an analysis of other operating costs anticipated for the facility, to the board for review and comment. Prior to submission of the staffing plan and operating costs analysis of the board, the county board of supervisors shall have reviewed and approved the submittal in or following public hearings. The sheriff shall also have reviewed and commented on the preliminary staffing plan and the operating cost analysis. The board shall comment in writing to the sheriff and board of supervisors. This letter shall be a public record.

(j) (1) The county shall submit either a major or minor needs assessment documenting the need for and purpose of the proposed project. The needs assessment shall meet all requirements listed in the applicable County Correctional Facility Capital Expenditure Fund regulations. The board may exempt a county from performing a new needs assessment if any of the following conditions exist:

(A) The board determines that a prior needs assessment is in substantial compliance and it justifies the project being funded in Section 4497.04.

(B) A county receives funds from this bond act in an amount of three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) or less.

(2) If exempted from performing a needs assessment, counties shall provide an analysis of specific jail deficiencies, including levels of security, program, including, but not limited to, medical and mental health care, housing, and administration. This analysis shall also include specific plans for correcting the deficiencies.

(k) (1) Demonstrate to the board, unless the county’s sole project is a remodel of an existing adult detention facility that will not result in the addition of any beds, that it is using, to the greatest extent feasible, alternatives to incarceration based on the following measures:

(A) An incarceration rate of no more than one standard deviation above the mean for all counties.

(B) Either a pretrial misdemeanor incarceration rate of no more than one standard deviation above the mean for all counties or a sentenced prisoner alternatives percentage or 5 percent or more as related to total sentenced prisoner admissions.

(2) (A) The data to be used in establishing the incarceration rate will be the 1989 calendar year average daily population as reported by each county to the board and the Department of Finance Report on Population by County.

(B) The pretrial misdemeanor incarceration rate will be based on an average of the daily pretrial misdemeanor jail population, developed from a four-day sample period in 1989 specified by the board.

(C) The sentenced prisoner alternatives percentage will be based on enrollment in three programs: Section 4024.2 of the Penal Code (work-in-lieu of jail), county parole, and home detention if the placement is made after some jail time is served.

(D) Counties failing to demonstrate adequate use of alternatives to incarcerations by the above measure by March 30, 1990, shall be reevaluated annually by the board. If any county is unable to satisfy the requirements of this section by September 30, 1993, the amount allocated to the county shall revert to the state, to be reallocated by the board pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 4497.04.

(l) Begin construction or renovation work within four years of the effective date of this title. If a county fails to meet this requirement, any allocations to the county under this chapter shall be deemed void and moneys allocated to the county shall revert to the board for reallocation. The board may waive this requirement if it determines that there are unavoidable delays in the initial construction activities.

(m) Counties shall provide for the construction of appropriate courtroom facilities and hearing room facilities within any jail construction plan submitted to the board. Those courtroom facilities and hearing room facilities shall be utilized for purposes of holding appropriate arraignments and bail hearings and for the conduct of parole revocation hearings. The board may waive this requirement where county specific circumstances dictate.

(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 9, Sec. 16. (AB 46) Effective January 1, 2020.)