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Public Safety Bond

This ballot initiative asks voters to invest in measures to reduce crime and stop the cycle of repeat offenders, protect community safety by filling gaps in our homelessness and criminal justice systems, address homelessness by modernizing and expanding mental health services, and update and improve the County Jail.

Specifically, the ballot asks voters to fund:

  1. Building a Justice and Accountability Center:

    • The Justice and Accountability Center will be an alternative to jail primarily for low-level offenders who are repeatedly involved in the criminal justice system because of underlying issues, such as unstable housing and mental health and substance use disorders that have not been addressed.
    • The Justice and Accountability Center will connect people to outpatient treatment, job training, permanent housing opportunities, and support services to get their lives back on track with a goal of eliminating criminal behavior.

  2. Consolidating and Improving the County Jail by:

    • Combining the two county jails
    • Increasing the number of beds
    • Expanding access to mental health treatment
    • Building a reentry unit to help people leaving jail prepare to rejoin society.

The Public Safety Bond is a key part of Salt Lake County's Human Services, Homelessness, and Criminal Justice Plan to address public safety, expand mental health services, and reduce homelessness.

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Why is the Public Safety Bond on the Ballot?

  • The Public Safety Bond for the Justice and Accountability Center and Jail expansion is a key part of Salt Lake County's comprehensive Human Services, Homelessness, and Criminal Justice Plan.
  • America's drug crisis has led to increased substance use and criminal activity on our streets. In addition to the County's expanded Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Task Force, law enforcement and the community needs resources like the Justice and Accountability Center and Jail Re-entry Step Down Unit to help break the cycle of repeat offenses.

About the Pieces

  • Connected to the Criminal Justice System, the Justice and Accountability Center is a supervised and secure alternative to jail for low-level offenders that holds people responsible for their actions while simultaneously helping them transition back to their community on a path toward self-reliance. The facility will also be available to people exiting jail in need of stabilization to get their lives on track and reduce their risk of committing repeat offenses.
  • The Justice and Accountability Center will provide intervention in the form of a structured environment with resources to stop the cycle of criminal behavior, including;
    • Dedicated case workers, job training and employment services, mental health & substance use disorder treatment, and connection to housing opportunities.
    • A behavioral health stabilization wing for those in need of intensive mental health and substance use disorder treatment to prepare them to transition to the facility's general stabilization space.
  • Jail has become the de facto system to serve people experiencing homelessness and is the largest mental health and substance use disorder treatment facility in the County.
    • This model comes at great expense to taxpayers at an average of $136/day per inmate.
  • The Justice & Accountability Center is cost-reducing.
    • 25% of those exiting jail and 1,200 on probation or pre-trail lack a structured environment and stabilization services, leading to an increased risk of re-offending
    • $75/day is the estimated cost per person at the Justice and Accountability Center. This figure is $60 a day less than jail.
    • Operating at full capacity, the Justice and Accountability Center would save taxpayers as much as $6.8 million a year.

The County Jail System Revamp in the Public Safety Bond has three main parts:

  • Consolidating the two jails
  • Adding capacity and expanding mental health access
  • Adding a Community Reentry Stepdown Unity

Consolidating the two jails:

The Public Safety Bond would close the older of the two county jails-Oxbow-then rebuild its capacity at the Adult Detention Center (ADC aka the County Jail). Combining the two county jails will improve efficiency and reduce operational costs. The two jails require $165 million or more for overdue maintenance and capital improvements. Included in this figure is $90 million for Oxbow Jail- which would only extend the half-century-old building's life a maximum of 10-15 years. In addition, Oxbow is stricken with logistical, operational, and safety challenges, including;

  • An inoperational kitchen that requires correctional staff to shuttle meals from ADC to Oxbow multiple times a day.
  • A rundown laundry facility that requires transporting inmates and staff from Oxbow to ADC and back to do laundry.

Adding capacity and expanding mental health access:

Additional jail capacity was last constructed in 2001. Since then, Salt Lake County's population has increased by nearly 300,000 people. The bond will fund the construction of additional general population capacity at the County Jail, as well as an expanded and modernized mental health unit, and a Community Reentry Stepdown Unit.

The Community Reentry Stepdown Unit:

Will help people leaving jail prepare to rejoin society. This will provide a dedicated space where inmates preparing to exit jail will be connected with case workers and providers who will identify risks, needs, and the resources needed for them to rejoin society on a path toward self-reliance.

HUMAN SERVICES, HOMELESSNESS, AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE PUN

Human Services, Homelessness, and Criminal Justice Plan

The Public Safety Bond is a crucial part of Salt Lake County's comprehensive action plan to tackle homelessness, behavioral health challenges, and criminal justice reform.

Read Action Plan