SECTIONS 4400-4401 - California Statutes

PENAL CODE

SECTION 4400-4401

4400. This title shall be known and may be cited as the County Jail
Capital Expenditure Bond Act of 1981.

4401. It is found and declared that:
(a) Numerous county jails throughout California are dilapidated
and overcrowded.
(b) Capital improvements are necessary to protect life and safety
of the persons confined or employed in jail facilities and to upgrade
the health and sanitary conditions of such facilities.
(c) County jails are threatened with closure or the imposition of
court supervision if health and safety deficiencies are not corrected
immediately.
(d) Due to fiscal constraints associated with the loss of local
property tax revenues, counties are unable to finance the
construction of adequate jail facilities.
(e) A 1980 survey authorized by the State Board of Corrections
concluded that more than two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000)
would be necessary merely to bring county and city jails up to the
standards in effect when they were built. Subsequent hearings by the
Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Corrections concluded
that at least five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000) would be
necessary to bring such facilities up to present standards, without
allowing for inflationary increases in construction costs in ensuing
years.
(f) Imposition of limits on taxing powers of local agencies,
imposed by Proposition 13 and other measures, has severely limited
ability of local jurisdictions to raise funds for jail construction
or renovation, though the need for such facilities is increasing.