Kings County Jail Embarks on Latest Expansion Phase

Expansions to the Kings County Jail complex in Hanford, Calif., were spurred by the 2011 passage of AB 109 and subsequent inmate realignment. Photo Credit: CountyofKings.com
Expansions to the Kings County Jail complex in Hanford, Calif., were spurred by the 2011 passage of AB 109 and subsequent inmate realignment. Photo Credit: CountyofKings.com

HANFORD, Calif. — Kings County Jail in Hanford, no stranger to construction projects, is expanding yet again. Although the jail added 252 beds in spring 2016, officials broke ground again Nov. 14 on a 33,000-square-foot addition that will increase the jail’s housing capacity and ability to deliver much-needed substance abuse and mental health programs.

The project centers on a new 24-bed mental health unit for inmates requiring closer supervision due to mental health concerns. The steel and concrete facility will also include a dayroom, outdoor recreational space, mental health staff offices, a general support area and three multipurpose program/interview spaces.

Additional inmate program spaces will include a Culinary Services area, which will feature a full-service kitchen complete with a receiving, food preparation and tray area; a washing station; and general support function space. This area will be supplemented by a vocations space that includes general storage, maintenance areas and support spaces for the Culinary Services program. The secure perimeter will also house vocational shop areas and one vocational classroom.

A standalone Day Reporting Center — located adjacent to the jail but outside the secure perimeter — will provide a variety of resources and health and education services to those completing probation requirements. The Day Reporting Center will feature two multipurpose classrooms, four interview rooms, an open public space, and office and work areas for program staff.

“The idea of the project is to create a space where people can help rehabilitate the offenders,” Kings County Sheriff Dave Robinson told the Valley Voice. “The goal is to reduce recidivism through different programs. There’ll be space so we can do anger management classes [and] addiction counseling.”

The project will primarily be paid for using $20 million in SB 1022 funding, while additional county and state contributions will total more than $1 million. Partners in the project include Kings County Behavioral Heath Services and the Kings County Probation Department.

Previous expansions to the correctional campus as well as this most recent project were spurred by the 2011 passage of AB 109 and subsequent inmate realignment. Like many other local and county facilities across the state, Kings County experienced a sharp increase in the jail’s population. By late 2012, the average daily inmate count had jumped to approximately 440, nearly 80 more than its rated capacity of 361.

Despite reopening previously closed facilities in 2013 to house more than 200 overflow inmates, in July 2014, officials embarked on the 252-bed, $33 million expansion, which spanned approximately 67,390 square feet. The now completed project added a new two-story building for inmate housing and supportive services, and also included renovations and infrastructure work. Specifically, it provided eight medium- and maximum-security housing units, six of which contain eight single-occupancy cells, and 64 double-occupancy cells as well as two housing units that contain a total of 104 dormitory beds. All housing units contain a dayroom and adjacent program space.

The Sacramento, Calif. office of DLR Group served as the architect on the previous project phase and will provide architectural, structural engineering and electrical engineering services in this phase as well. Lane Engineers of Tulare, Calif., is serving as the project’s civil engineer, and TETER of Fresno will provide MEP engineering services.

By Lindsey Coulter