{"id":914671,"date":"2026-07-05T18:35:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T18:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/914671\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T18:35:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T18:35:17","slug":"plan-to-close-las-mens-central-jail-in-5-years-not-feasible-at-scale-or-pace-needed-superior-court-says-pasadena-star-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/914671\/","title":{"rendered":"Plan to close LA\u2019s Men\u2019s Central Jail in 5 years not feasible at \u2018scale or pace\u2019 needed, Superior Court says \u2013 Pasadena Star News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles County Superior Court is dumping cold water on the county\u2019s $2.8 billion plan<\/a> to reduce its jail population by enough to close decrepit Men\u2019s Central Jail without a replacement in the next five years.<\/p>\n

David Slayton, the court\u2019s executive officer, warned county officials that the courts cannot implement significant portions of the proposal \u2014 developed without the court\u2019s input \u2014 at the \u201cscale or pace assumed\u201d unless the state gives it more money and judges.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we acknowledge the effort that has gone into developing these recommendations, we have significant concerns regarding the assumptions and expectations placed on the Court across all of the Plan\u2019s \u2018Required Actions for Closure,\u2019 \u201d Slayton wrote in a letter to county officials Monday, June 29.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach action relies heavily on increased Court capacity, additional courtroom availability, expanded judicial officer staffing, new physical space, and enhanced operational infrastructure \u2014 none of which the Court can currently accommodate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Superior Court, which is primarily funded by the state, already receives about $234 million less than is needed, he wrote. The court only gets about 77% of the funding it needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis, coupled with rising inflationary and labor costs, present significant budgetary constraints that place substantial strain on day-to-day operations and leaves limited to no capacity to absorb new responsibilities of the magnitude contemplated in the Plan,\u201d Slayton wrote.<\/p>\n

Seven \u2018required actions\u2019<\/p>\n

The county\u2019s Jail Closure Implementation Team, or JCIT, presented the initial framework for the plan<\/a> at the Board of Supervisors\u2019 meeting Tuesday, June 30. The plan\u2019s seven \u201crequired actions\u201d call for roughly $1.5 billion in additional funding over the next five years, on top of the $1.4 billion already earmarked for the work.<\/p>\n

While Slayton\u2019s letter to Wilford Pinkney, the executive director of JCIT, praises the county\u2019s \u201ccontinued commitment to addressing the complex challenges regarding Men\u2019s Central Jail,\u201d it also states the court\u2019s budget constraints will affect every part of the plan.<\/p>\n

Three of JCIT\u2019s recommendations<\/a>, in particular, could have significant fiscal impacts.<\/p>\n

One proposes expanding the Rapid Diversion Program, operated by the Justice, Care and Opportunities Department (JCOD), from eight to 18 courthouses. The pre-plea diversion program provides housing resources, mental health or substance abuse disorder treatment, and case management for eligible defendants. Cases are dismissed for those who successfully complete it.<\/p>\n

The other two required action items would significantly increase access to the Office of Diversion and Re-Entry\u2019s housing program, which provides court-ordered treatment and housing as an alternative to custody. Cases involving ODR placements, which are frequently challenged by the district attorney, are \u201cthe most resource intensive in terms of judicial officer time, hearing volume and coordination with counsel and clinicians,\u201d Slayton said.<\/p>\n

\"Men'sMen\u2019s Central Jail seen here on Jan. 31, 2024. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News\/SCNG)
\nMore courtrooms, judges needed<\/p>\n

The problem is that the Superior Court does not have enough judges, physical space, or courtroom availability to be able to meet that demand, and the five-year timeline does not \u201caccurately reflect the time the Court needs to expand capacity,\u201d Slayton wrote.<\/p>\n

It would cost $727,021 annually to staff an additional courtroom for JCOD and $834,000 annually for an additional ODR courtroom, according to the letter. Likewise, expanding the Rapid Diversion Program would require $5.2 million annually just to cover the staffing without factoring in any one-time costs.<\/p>\n

JCIT acknowledged the court\u2019s concerns at the Board of Supervisors\u2019 meeting and is expected to address the feedback at a second presentation July 21.<\/p>\n

Mental health issues<\/p>\n

Nearly half of the people inside Los Angeles County jails suffer from mental health issues and that percentage is expected to grow in the future. Officials, including county Sheriff Robert Luna, regularly refer to Men\u2019s Central Jail as the largest mental health institution in the nation. The facility, opened in 1963, is in a state of near constant disrepair and inspectors have repeatedly called out horrific conditions, including mold, rats and instances of neglect.<\/a><\/p>\n

As of June 24, 22 people have died<\/a> in L.A. County\u2019s custody so far this year. Nine of those were housed in Men\u2019s Central Jail, according to the Sheriff\u2019s Department.<\/p>\n

About 300 people<\/a> have died in total since the Board of Supervisors began debating closure of the jail six years ago.<\/p>\n

The county\u2019s total jail population needs to drop from about 12,500 today to roughly 7,000 to 8,000 to safely shutter Men\u2019s Central.<\/p>\n

But those reductions also are at the mercy of external forces. The passage of Proposition 36<\/a> in 2024, which placed stricter punishment on repeat drug and theft offenses, created a surge in arrests last year and bumped the population up to about 13,500, roughly a thousand more than the jails are rated to hold.<\/p>\n

Diversion, release and other alternatives to incarceration are ultimately up to a judge\u2019s discretion, meaning there\u2019s no guarantee that those inmate population goals will be met, even if the programs are expanded, Slayton reminded the county in his letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cJudicial officers exercise independent constitutional and statutory authority. Neither the Court nor the County can predetermine or guarantee that particular individuals will be diverted, released, or otherwise handled in a manner that advances specific population reduction targets,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Advocates keep pressure on<\/p>\n

Marcella Rosen, communications and policy manager at Dignity and Power Now, one of the advocacy groups pushing for the closure of Men\u2019s Central Jail for years now, said that while she questions the timing of Slayton\u2019s letter, she believes the feedback is important for identifying and resolving the barriers to implementing JCIT\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n

Each county department and agency involved should similarly \u201cwrite up what they need to get this done\u201d and the Board of Supervisors should ensure those needs are met promptly, she said. If the Superior Court needs more funding from the state to fulfill its role, the supervisors should be calling on the Legislature and the governor to provide it.<\/p>\n

The JusticeLA Coalition, along with Dignity and Power, put up billboards last month accusing Supervisor Janice Hahn of delaying funding for JCIT by pushing both parts of the presentation to July 21. At Tuesday\u2019s meeting, Hahn said her intent was to combine the two presentations to provide a fuller picture.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone in the county knows that we have too many people with mental health needs that are incarcerated and that the population is growing every day and that it needs to be addressed,\u201d Rosen said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to continue to hear excuses as to why six years later there hasn\u2019t been any progress on this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles County Superior Court is dumping cold water on the county\u2019s $2.8 billion plan to reduce…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":914288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,356,5295,41040,2961,153723,224,6080,5337,50,27696,39410,10100,91523,15186,52],"class_list":["post-914671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-courts","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-jails","tag-la","tag-la-county-board-of-supervisors","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-losangeles","tag-news","tag-palos-verdes-peninsula","tag-san-fernando-valley","tag-san-gabriel-valley","tag-socal-watchdog","tag-south-bay","tag-top-stories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116868817027312761","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=914671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/914288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=914671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=914671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=914671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}