Monterey County Jail moves forward with improvement plan after court order

Improvements are coming to the Monterey County Jail after a court order allows the county to implement plans originally delayed by litigation.

On Thursday, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said it received a notice that the United States District Court’s preliminary injunction in the case over conditions in the jail.

The judge sided with the Plantiff motion in the case citing health and safety concerns and asked the County to file a plan that would fix 16 specific issues with the jail. Some of those include better tuberculosis screening, removing hanging points from certain cells, and make more programs accessible to disabled inmates.

“Of the 16 identified elements in the order, most have already been addressed and are in place and others are in various stages of implementation,” said Sheriff Steve Bernal.

The Sheriff went on to say that the order item pertaining to the process for Tuberculosis screening may need clarification because the jail has not had a Tuberculosis case in five years.

The court order has told Monterey County it needs to file a plan to fix the issues listed within 60 days.

Sheriff Bernal said “the plan will be a continuation of the modernization improvements undertaken over the past several years, including a brand new facility.”