Officials Press Gov. to Block San Quentin Death Row Project

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — State and local officials from Marin County are hoping Gov. Jerry Brown will scrap plans to build a new $356 million death row complex at San Quentin State Prison.

 

Assemblyman Jared Huffman met recently with high-ranking members of the Brown administration and said he is hopeful that they will de-authorize the project in favor of cheaper alternatives.

 

The 541,000-square-foot complex would contain 768 cells with 1,152 beds. Critics of the project say new prison space could be built more affordably elsewhere, and the land on which the prison resides could be put to a better use.

 

In early November, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation opened bids for the first construction phase of the project, which includes demolition, site grading, utilities, housing units and towers. Nine bids were received ranging from $126 million to $145 million. CDCR had been scheduled to award a contract within 60 days of opening the bids but the County of Marin, where San Quentin is located, filed a lawsuit to block the project.

 

The suit alleges that in 2009 former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger improperly used a line-item veto to ignore budget control language on conditions for financing the project.

 

David Zaltsman, deputy county counsel for the County of Marin, said he is prepared to ask a Marin Superior Court judge to issue a restraining order to prevent the contract from being awarded until the county’s suit is resolved.

 

Zaltsman said he has so far delayed action because the state attorney general’s office assured him no decision on a contract would be made earlier than this week.