Amador County Sheriff Martin Ryan announced Friday that at the November 13th State Corrections and Standards Authority meeting in Sacramento, Amador County received a conditional award of 22,712 dollars from the state to be used towards the construction of a new county jail facility. The amount represents the state’s 75 percent of the total project cost of 30,282,667 dollars pursuant to Assembly Bill 900, which passed last year. The balance of the project costs are the responsibility of Amador County. Amador County joins its Re-entry facility partners of Calaveras and San Joaquin County in receiving state grant funds for their local jail projects. The Northern California Re-entry Facility, located in San Joaquin County, will help prepare Amador County’s inmates who are within 12 months of their parole date to receive intensive counseling and job training in an effort to reduce the state’s 70 percent recidivism rate. This rate contributes greatly to the state prison overcrowding situation. Sheriff Ryan, who was present for the award announcement, thanked the Amador County Board of Supervisor’s, CAO Teri Daly, GSA Director Jon Hopkins, and Sheriff’s Corrections Division Captain Ron Rockett and his staff for their support and efforts in successfully getting the county through this critical stage of the process. “I know this grant award is somewhat bitter-sweet given the county’s current economic situation, but the need to replace our outdated and overcrowded jail is critical to a secure future for the citizen’s of our county,” said Ryan. The current 24 year old jail is rated for 76 beds and regularly runs 10-15% over capacity in spite of programs to allow lesser offenders to spend time out of the facility. The proposed new facility would meet the county’s year 2010 need of 165 beds as determined by a recent jail needs assessment and would address the safety and security concerns voiced by several past Grand Juries. Staff Report