Encinitas Residents Invited To Hear Sheriff Speak On Needs For Vista Detention Facility

ENCINITAS, CA — The San Diego County Sheriff's Office wants to hear from North County residents regarding the future of the Vista Detention Facility at a public forum on Tuesday in Encinitas.

The two-hour forum is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Encinitas Community Center at 1140 Oakcrest Park Drive.

The first community forum was held in February in Vista.

The jail, built in 1972 and expanded in 1978 and 1988, is adjacent to the Vista Sheriff's Station and North County Superior Court. Sheriff's officials say it "is in dire need of replacement and modernization."

The focus for the North County Detention and Reentry Facility would be on modernizing and providing resources to people while in custody so they can become productive members of society.

According to the Sheriff's Department website, the Vista Detention Facility (VDF), is the oldest of seven jails in San Diego County, serves as the sole booking facility for both males and females in North County.

"The current facility has a rated capacity of 807 beds over 185,000 square feet. It serves cities and communities across North County, including Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, Escondido, Tribal Communities, and surrounding unincorporated areas," they wrote. "The VDF is the oldest detention facility in the Sheriff network at over 50 years of age and the facility has surpassed its useful life. The facility and its major systems represent three different eras of specifications co-mingled into a single facility. The current space allocated to services and programs for incarcerated people is extremely limited, and these spaces were not built with contemporary programs or uses in mind. The evolution of detention facility design and incorporation of evidence-based solutions related to correctional reentry services is largely infeasible at VDF in its current configuration."

This second forum is an opportunity to hear factual information, understand the current planning process and provide community input on the future modernization of the Vista Detention Facility, the sheriff's office said in a statement.

Sheriff Kelly Martinez will be joined by representatives from the sheriff's Detention Services Bureau (including the Vista Detention Facility and Sheriff's Reentry Services), the San Diego County Department of General Services, law enforcement leaders and community re-entry experts to answer questions from the public.

"This community forum is part of our commitment to transparency by ensuring the public and media are informed about how we strive to provide quality services to people in our custody," the SDSO said.