Committee to Evaluate Jail Operations

SAN MATEO, Calif. — San Mateo county officials have opted to form a committee to review jail operations before approving funding for overtime pay for staff needed at the overcrowded county jail.

The sheriff’s office requested $1.4 million to increase overtime staff from nine to 18 employees. The extra staffing is needed to oversee the county’s inmate population, which is now higher than the capacity at both the men’s and women’s facilities in the county, according to reports.

Approximately half of the overtime hours worked in the department are at the men’s Maguire Correctional Facility, which can hold 622 inmates but averages more than 900 daily, according to the sheriff’s office.

The recent closure of the minimum-security facilities and a crackdown on gangs has contributed to the strain on the county’s jails, according to reports.