SHERIFF_AnnualReport_8.5x11_041521_WEB

USTODY
AN OVERVIEW
OF THE
CUSTODY
BUREAU
CUSTODY ADMINISTRATION
Custody Administration is comprised
of a correctional captain, two correctional
lieutenants, chief medical officer,
correctional sergeant, compliance
officer and two legal clerks. Cooperatively,
this team oversees activities of
both jail operations, support services,
and contracted services. The Custody
Bureau provides the primary functions
of housing pretrial arrestees and
sentenced inmates in a safe and
healthy environment. Staff maintain
security within the jail through
objective inmate classification,
advancements in technologies, and
regular training. The uniformed and
civilian staff provide alternatives to jail,
vocational and educational opportunities,
court transportation, and facilitate
access to medical, mental health and
community re-entry services.
COURT TRANSPORTATION
SERVICES
Court Transportation Services is
comprised of one correctional
sergeant, one senior correctional
deputy, nine correctional deputies
and one correctional technician.
Three correctional deputies possess
class B driver’s licenses, which allow
them to transport up to 19 inmates in
our large transportation van. Our
functions are to transport inmates to
and from court holding area, oversee
the court proceedings for individuals
in custody and transport inmates
throughout California for various
reasons, including California Department
of Corrections facilities,
Department of State Hospital facilitates,
facilities in other counties, local
County Psychiatric Health Facility and
local medical appointments.
2020 provided new challenges as we
had to make operational changes to in
our procedures due to COVID-19. In
March we worked with court staff and
attorneys to conduct court appearances
via web applications from inside
the jail. We re-purposed educational
classrooms to facilitate three video
courtrooms each day from inside the
jail. Inmates speak to their attorneys via
video technology, and many times
complete their entire court process
without ever stepping foot at the
physical courthouse. These measures
have helped decrease the spread of
COVID and allowed our courts to
maintain necessary operations.
Also, with the availability of video
technology across the state, court
transportation staff was proactive in
reaching out to other agencies to
conduct video hearings from facilitates
throughout the state. This measure has
resulted in 56 inmates at other facilities
not being physically transported to the
San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s
Office, instead the court proceedings
were completed at their current facility
via remote video conferencing
technologies.
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH UNIT/
KANSAS MAX UNIT/
MEDICAL UNIT
Behavioral Health Unit (BHU)
The BHU was opened for mental health
services in 2019. The unit is supervised
by two correctional deputies and a large
team of WellPath Mental Health
16 SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE