Indio Getting Help for Jail Expansion

Riverside County supervisors set aside $250,000 today to cover the initial costs associated with relocating Indio court facilities that will need to be vacated to accommodate jail expansion.
In the next two years, the county plans to begin work on the East County Detention Center project, erecting a structure at the site of the County Administrative Center on Highway 111 that will contain at least 1,200 new inmate beds.
The facility will be an extension of the current Indio Jail, adjacent to the Superior Court complex on Oasis Street.
County Economic Development Agency spokesman Tom Freeman told City News Service that the Indio CAC will have to be leveled for the $200 million project, which will require relocating personnel from several county agencies, including the District Attorney’s Office. Freeman said two courtrooms will also
have to be moved.
“We hope to have the jail under construction as quickly as possible, but we don’t have an exact timeline,” he said.
The $250,000 appropriation approved by the Board of Supervisors will fund court relocation expenses and the design of replacement courtrooms, according to the EDA spokesman.
No alternative locations have been confirmed for any of the agencies currently housed in the Indio CAC, but Freeman said a “comprehensive” report will be submitted to the board in the coming months.
Adding detention facilities is at the top of the board’s list of capital improvement priorities.
In March, the State Corrections Authority awarded the county $100 million for expanding or building correctional facilities to ease local jail overcrowding, which is expected to worsen because of state efforts to decrease the inmate population in the California penal system.
The six-year grant must be matched with county funds.