Photo via Facebook.

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Press release from the Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury:

The Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury has released the third report of their 2023-2024 term, entitled Humboldt County Custody & Corrections Facilities.

By law, every year the Grand Jury must inspect any jails or prisons in the county. Traditionally we have not limited our inspections to custodial facilities, and this year is no different. Between October 2023 and January 2024, we toured and inspected:

  • The Humboldt County Animal Shelter
  • The Sempervirens Psychiatric Health Facility
  • The Humboldt County Juvenile Detention Center
  • The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Eel River Conservation Camp
  • The Humboldt County Correctional Facility
  • The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Coroner - Public Administrator facility.
  • The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Work Alternative Program – Sheriff’s Farm

At every facility we saw a persistent problem: short staffing. Positions have been “frozen” by the county, leaving jobs unfilled for the foreseeable future. Positions that are already allocated and funded have vacancy rates as high as 37%. Several facilities are using mandatory overtime to help close the gap. Despite this the state and county staff were pleasant, helpful, and demonstrated dedication to their jobs.

Many of the facilities are old, some dating from the 1950s, but all of them were clean and orderly. There are some important deferred maintenance issues that should be fixed, the most urgent being the leaking and damaged roof at the Humboldt County Animal Shelter. The leaking roof was also documented in last years Grand Jury report.

Taken as a whole, these facilities appeared to be fully functional despite the challenges they face.

If you want to serve your community in a unique way that could improve local government, this is your opportunity. Applications to serve on the Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury can be found at https://humboldtgov.org/510/Civil-Grand-Jury. Additional information provided by the Civil Grand Jurors Association of California can be found at https://cgja.org/.

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DOCUMENT: HCCGJ Report: Custody and Corrections

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PREVIOUSLY in 2023-24 Civil Grand Jury Reports: