Just weeks after Santa Barbara County leaders approved plans to expand the Northern Branch Jail in Santa Maria, officials are unveiling early design concepts and seeking community input on the project.
In July, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved adding one-and-a-half new housing units totaling 384 beds to the facility. The county held two public meetings this week to gather feedback on the expansion plans; one in Santa Maria on Wednesday and one in Santa Barbara on Thursday.
"We really want to hear from the public because right now we are in that design phase," said Kelsey Buttitta, Santa Barbara County public information officer.
County data shows the jail population has declined over the past year, dropping from 790 inmates in July 2025 to 670 in July 2026. Currently, there are 1,127 beds across both facilities. Under the proposal, the main jail would be reduced from 751 beds to 120, while the Northern Branch would gain 384 beds, bringing its total capacity to 760.
These changes leave the future bed capacity total around an estimated 880 beds.
"The goal of adding housing units to the northern branch jail is so that we can decommission the antiquated main jail housing units," Buttitta said.
Community members at the meetings expressed mixed reactions to the expansion plans.
Jeanne Sparks, a member of the Santa Barbara County Action Network, said her organization, along with California Lutheran University and the League of Women Voters, opposed the scale of the expansion but appreciated efforts to make the facility more humane.
"They were looking at design concepts for the jail as they expand it," Sparks said. "We all didn't want the jail to expand as much as they are expanding it, but they have looked at a lot of the ideas to make it a more humane place to be."
Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt, president of the NAACP Lompoc chapter, emphasized the importance of adding rehabilitation programs.
"Breaking that recidivism cycle, and one way that you can do that is for training like job opportunities," she said.
County officials say the changes will transform the Northern Branch from a traditional jail into a more modern rehabilitation-focused facility.
"What we're seeing is not just the housing units, those beds that you think of, but also treatment spaces so they can get medical treatment, they can get behavioral health treatment, as well as recreational spaces," Buttitta said.
