(The Center Square) – The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to shut down its main jail in 2021, and while activists have pushed to close the jail without any replacement, the closure plan now faces serious delays due to a major influx of criminals.
The county reports the jail is now filling up due to Proposition 36 — which made serial theft and drug crimes into felonies — and that up to 40% of its inmates are so mentally ill they require observation.
Men’s Central Jail has a capacity of 5,640 inmates and is the county’s primary jail. After the Board of Supervisors voted to shut down the facility in 2021, the county reported that a large number of conditions would have to be met to safely shut down the facility, including depopulation.
The County’s latest report, outlining significant jail population growth since Prop. 36 went into effect, suggests the closure may not be happening any time soon, if at all.
“Under Proposition 36, certain offenses must now go to a magistrate judge to decide on release — whereas they could previously be eligible for release by law enforcement in the field or immediately after being booked into jail,” said the county.
The county says 35 people per week enter the county jail with Prop. 36-related offenses as their most serious offense, and that while there were only 12 individuals in custody for such offenses in December 2024, there were 403 in March.
“Roughly 35-40 percent of these individuals require mental health housing in moderate- and high-observation housing,” said the county. “If the impact of Proposition 36 continues in this way, County jail will return to overcrowding and prevent the closure of MCJ.”
The county says to achieve closure, it must “reduce inflow” by redirecting individuals from jail, “reduce length of stay” by shortening detention times, and “increase outflow” by releasing criminals to “community-based alternatives.”
One of the county’s strategies for achieving all three is increasing the availability of the supply of beds in mental health institutions. Unfortunately, county funding for mental health was significantly reduced by California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Proposition 1, which redirected tax funding from county mental health systems to housing.
“The Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) will shift of funds to housing supports that limits BHSA funding for lower-level care, outpatient services, and eliminates funding for prevention services,” wrote the county.
However, the county may soon have additional support for redirecting mentally ill criminals from jail to treatment via Measure A, a half-cent sales tax for Los Angeles County for a broad spectrum of housing and mental health services. Measure A went into effect at the start of April and is expected to provide $1 billion per year in revenue.
Measure A’s new revenue, when combined with county-level savings from defunding the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, could result in significant new funding available to the county for mental health treatment. It’s unclear if this funding could go toward community-based programs, in which criminals remain in the community, or if there would be more of an emphasis in institutionalization.
