Santa Clara County supervisors approved a $1 billion plan to revamp two jail facilities over the next several years.

Aug 27, 2026

Updated 3:19 pm PT

The Santa Clara County Main Jail on March 28, 2016. (Lisa Pickoff-White/KQED)

Santa Clara County leaders approved a broad plan to spend roughly $1 billion over several years to revamp significantly outdated jail facilities described as “awful” by county officials, and bring them into compliance with longstanding court orders to improve safety and conditions. 

The unanimous decision by the Board of Supervisors came over the protests of dozens of residents and advocates for people who are or have been incarcerated, who called on leaders to avoid further spending on new jail buildings, and to instead invest more in preventive and intervention programs, housing and education. 

Supervisors said the decision reflects dual realities in the county, with leaders pledging to continue efforts to reduce incarceration and recidivism, while also facing a legal mandate to have adequate, safe facilities for people who are jailed and the people who work there. 

“Today is not about an either-or decision,” Supervisor Susan Ellenberg said just before voting to support the plans this week. “We need to do everything we can to prevent people from entering the criminal legal system. When those investments are not successful, our obligation to care for people doesn’t end when they are incarcerated.” 

Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg speaks during an event celebrating the opening of Vermont House, a new residential treatment facility in San José for people leaving jail with mental health needs. (Joseph Geha/KQED)

“The punishment of incarceration itself, while it has debatable value, is the deprivation of liberty,” Ellenberg said, and “should not be the exposure to unsafe, deteriorating or inhumane conditions.”

The county plans are aimed at addressing the most pressing needs at both its jail facilities: the Main Jail near downtown San José and the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas. The changes include major investments in spaces for better medical and mental-health care, more efficient intake and processing and better assessment of people’s needs as they are coming into the jails.

Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga said she has toured both jail facilities and was “shocked” by the conditions. “It’s beyond just cleaning the facilities. It’s really quite deplorable,” she said. 

The lack of proper facilities, including layouts that make it harder for staff to supervise people, and the lack of access to adequate mental health and medical facilities have contributed to devastating outcomes like jail deaths and assaults, which led to costly lawsuits and two federal consent decrees mandating improvements with court oversight. 

Sylvia Arenas, the District 1 supervisor for Santa Clara County, speaks during a ceremony at Regional Medical Center in East San José to mark the county’s first day of ownership of the facility, on April 1, 2025. (Joseph Geha/KQED)

The new facility would also “provide 300 new dedicated and purpose-built beds specifically for people with serious mental illness,” according to the report.

Another men’s housing unit at Elmwood with 540 beds would be demolished, with a new 672-bed modern facility to replace it, allowing some of the high-security inmates from the Main Jail to be transferred there. 

The Main Jail would be in line for a new 56,000-square-foot intake, booking and short-term housing facility that would provide “dedicated space for medical, mental health, and custody assessments,” the report said. 

Supervisor Sylvia Arenas said she wants the county to be “equally ambitious” about spending on youth violence prevention programs, education and other efforts to lower incarceration rates.