Jail Operations

Sutter County Jail

In accordance with California Government Code 26605, Notwithstanding any other provision of law, except in counties in which the sheriff, as of July 1, 1993, is not in charge of and the sole and exclusive authority to keep the county jail and the prisoners in it, the sheriff shall take charge of and be the sole and exclusive authority to keep the county jail and the prisoners in it, except for work furlough facilities where by county ordinance the work furlough administrator is someone other than the sheriff.

All jail operations are governed by Title 15, "Minimum Standards for Local Detention Facilities." Local detention facilities, or county jails, are divided into IV facilities types:

"Type I facility" means a local detention facility used for the detention of persons for not more than 96 hours excluding holidays after booking. Such a Type I facility may also detain persons on court order either for their own safekeeping or sentenced to a city jail as an inmate worker, and may house inmate workers sentenced to the county jail provided such placement in the facility is made on a voluntary basis on the part of the inmate. As used in this section, an inmate worker is defined as a person assigned to perform designated tasks outside of his/her cell or dormitory, pursuant to the written policy of the facility, for a minimum of four hours each day on a five day scheduled work week.

"Type II facility" means a local detention facility used for the detention of persons pending arraignment, during trial, and upon a sentence of commitment.

"Type III facility" means a local detention facility used only for the detention of convicted and sentenced persons.

"Type IV facility" means a local detention facility or portion thereof designated for the housing of inmates eligible under Penal Code Section 1208 for work/education furlough and/or other programs involving inmate access into the community.

The Sutter County Jail is rated as a Type IV Facility which encompasses all four types described above. Persons can be sentenced to the Sutter County Jail for up to one year. Currently Sutter County has 352 rated beds, 194 beds in the main jail and 158 beds in the minimum facility. The minimum facility is a, "True Minimum Facility," in that it houses non-violent minor misdemeanor offenders specifically. Many of the inmates in this facility are used as workers within the jail performing work in the kitchen, laundry and any other work details as needed. Many inmates are also released from the jail daily to work at Sutter County Animal Control, Public Works and Yuba/Sutter Mental Health. All inmates are classified and housed within the jail in accordance with their gender, sophistication of their crime, gang affiliation and the need for protective custody.

The Sutter County Jail was approved for a State Building Grant, which is paying 90% of a new construction project for the expansion of the Sutter County Jail. This project will add forty-two additional inmate beds, twenty-eight male and fourteen female. This project also will build a new medical space, which will have two exam rooms, a negative pressure cell, an additional safety cell and a holding cell. The Kitchen will also expand to include a larger freezer, storage room, new office for the Kitchen Supervisor and a new restroom for the inmates. This project is scheduled to start in September 2016 and is expected to take twenty months to complete.

While in custody the sheriff is responsible for the care, custody and control of the inmates, which includes all necessary medical treatment, proper diet in accordance with strict dietary guidelines, proper classification to ensure their physical safety and effective security to prevent escape. This is a full time responsibility and is accomplished with the professional staff of 5 correctional sergeants and 42 correctional officers working diligently to fulfill the mission.

The sheriff is also responsible for security within the Sutter Superior Court. This is accomplished with the professional staff consisting of one sergeant, seven Bailiffs and one Deputy Sheriff who is stationed at the entrance door. Their mission is the safety of the Judges, court staff, general court room safety and the security of the inmates within the court system.

The sheriff also oversees an Alternative Sentencing Program, which includes; Outside Work Release, Electronic Monitoring and Home Detention. The Outside Work Release Program allows inmates who are non-violent, non-serious and non-sex offenders sentenced for minor misdemeanor violations the opportunity to serve their sentence working in the Sutter County Community providing community service. The Electronic Monitoring Program allows those same types of inmates the ability to serve their sentence providing community service or to maintain their current employment status. The Home Detention Program is used to allow those persons with serious medical conditions the ability to stay home, continue their care using their physician. In 2009, the Alternative Sentencing programs were effectively used to save the county over $500,000.00 in costs which we would have incurred for the care custody and control of inmates.

Sheriff Parker and his staff are continuously look for new and innovative methods for effectively using your tax dollars while ensuring public safety by maintaining the care, custody and control of inmates sentenced to the Sutter County Jail. One of these programs is the, "Second Chance Program," Low level non-violent inmates are assessed to determine their barriers to community re-entry. Those inmates are round tabled by a diverse group of professionals in the drug rehabilitation community, mental health experts, job counselors, probation officers, back to work specialists, education experts and faith based organizations. The purpose is to develop a plan for the inmate to help them overcome their barriers to re-entry into the community and prevent them from re-offending and to become a productive citizen.

California has a recidivism rate of about 70% which translates to Sutter County. The overall purpose of the Second Chance Program is to reduce recidivism within Sutter County by using professionals and assets already in place and funded. These professionals who are individually working to reduce recidivism are brought together into a multi-disciplinary team to make effective use of manpower and tax dollars.

Jail Statistics