The new Day Reporting Center, part of the Kings County Jail expansion project, has several offices and classrooms that will provide programs and services through the Sheriff's Office, Probation Department and other outside agencies and organizations.
HANFORD — After expanding to house more offenders, the Kings County Jail is expanding once more to provide new services and programs.
This $20 million "Senate Bill 1022" project was started a couple years ago in addition to a $33 million 252-bed jail expansion project that was finished in May 2016.
This project provides 33,000 square feet of new space at and around the jail. New facilities include a 24-bed mental health unit, culinary service kitchen and Day Reporting Center.
The project also provides additional office and staff space and space for programs and services aimed at serving inmates and those on probation, including vocational warehouse.
Assistant Sheriff Robert Thayer shows a vocational warehouse that's part of the Kings County Jail expansion project.
Julissa Zavala, The Sentinel
During an open house tour of the new facilities on Tuesday, Assistant Sheriff Robert Thayer said the jail will go from having two classrooms to having nine classrooms, freeing up the tight time schedules and allowing for more programs to be conducted.
The kitchen and the laundry space were designed for even further expansion of the jail, Kings County Sheriff Dave Robinson said. He said they were designed to be used for 1,500 inmates, though the jail only has about 500 inmates right now.
Thayer also said the kitchen is a teaching kitchen where offenders can even earn food safety certificates.
At the Day Reporting Center, Robinson said his team is going to work closely with the Kings County Probation Department and other community partners, like Champions Recovery, to provide outside services that someone might need, like anger management classes or Narcotics Anonymous.
“Most inmates that come through our doors go right back out into the community,” Robinson said. “So we want to do everything we can to give them an opportunity to be successful when they leave us.”
The new Day Reporting Center, part of the Kings County Jail expansion project, has several offices and classrooms that will provide programs and services through the Sheriff's Office, Probation Department and other outside agencies and organizations.
Julissa Zavala, The Sentinel
Robinson said no new staff will be added for the project and new space, but staff will be moved around to fill all the space. He said the facility was designed to take staff from different departments and put them in one location so people could get their services all in one place.
In the over 20 years that Robinson has been involved with the Sheriff’s Office, he said there has never been a mental health wing or unit and offenders with mental health issues were dealt with in the housing unit or medical unit.
“Now to have a dedicated space, it’s going to be huge for us,” Robinson said of the mental health unit. “We’re really looking forward to incorporating more mental health treatment for the inmates when they come through our doors.”
The Kings County Jail expansion project includes a new 24-bed mental health unit.
Julissa Zavala, The Sentinel
Robinson said this wasn’t just a sheriff’s office project and wanted to thank all the community organizations and government entities that helped make the expansion possible.
“We’re really looking forward to seeing the results that it produces in a few years,” Robinson said, adding he’s expecting everything to be operational within the next 90 days after some finishing touches.
The new Day Reporting Center, part of the Kings County Jail expansion project, has several offices and classrooms that will provide programs and services through the Sheriff's Office, Probation Department and other outside agencies and organizations.
