Santa Barbara’s New Northern Branch Jail Is Open for Business

More Than 240 Inmates Moved into the State-of-the-Art Facility in Santa Maria in Wake of COVID Outbreak

Northern Branch Jail's housing area | Credit: Courtesy

Santa Barbara County’s Northern Branch Jail is up and running in Santa Maria after being cleared for occupancy on January 22. On Monday, the Sheriff’s Office Custody Division transferred 244 inmates from the Main Jail to the Northern Branch Jail, which was completed in November 2021 but still needed a few kinks worked out before being cleared for population.

The first bus leaving the Main Jail. | Credit: Courtesy

The move comes on the heels of the worst COVID outbreak at the Main Jail since the start of the pandemic, with 221 individuals testing positive in just over a month. “Toward the beginning of the current COVID outbreak in the Main Jail, the Sheriff’s Office recognized that the opening of the Northern Branch Jail would offer a much-needed opportunity to decompress the population in the Main Jail and control the spread of COVID,” said Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Raquel Zick.

A few items were still needed for total approval to move and house inmates in the new branch, but a joint effort by the Northern Branch Jail Transition Team, Sheriff’s Office Systems and Technology, general services, and SJ Amoroso Construction helped expedite the process for full clearance.