SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Sacramento County Grand Jury’s 2025–26 confinement review found that while detention facilities face persistent challenges, officials have made efforts to create safer and more rehabilitative environments, according to a newly-released report.
According to a news release by the Sacramento County Grand Jury, the 2025–2026 Sacramento County grand jurors fulfilled their annual responsibility of investigating the conditions and operations of public prisons, discovering that although each detention facility had its own challenges, efforts to create safe and rehabilitative environments have been made.
Mandated by California Penal Code Section 919(b), the jurors visited all five of Sacramento County’s detention facilities (in chronological order): the Sacramento Youth Detention Facility, the Sacramento County Main Jail, the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center, Folsom State Prison and California State Prison, Sacramento. They toured on site, including the inmates’ facilities, and were able to conduct interviews with staff members.
In preparation for the examination of the public prisons, after identifying the pertinent areas, the grand jurors read complaints and preceding confinement tour reports, wrote down questions they had or wanted to ask, watched news relevant to the institutions, and researched legal documents such as consent decrees. “Most facilities provided the Grand Jury with printed materials containing data, including historical information, staffing and inmate statistics, available inmate programs, and information regarding medical and mental health care services.” The visits began with an introductory presentation and interaction with staff, and the large remainder of the two to three hours was spent actively touring.
Able to access spaces inside the facilities inaccessible to the public, the jurors questioned inmates and staff about “living conditions, activities, health care,” and anything else they saw fit to ask. Once the grand jurors finished a tour, they reviewed the newly obtained information and requested both clarification regarding tour observations and additional information “on policies and procedures related to booking processes, inmate safety, living conditions, etc.”
The Sacramento Youth Detention Facility was visited by jurors on Sept. 11, 2025, who inspected the Valley Oak Youth Academy, the multi-sensory de-escalation room, the living quarters, classrooms and educational areas such as kitchens and gardens. Comprising two separate sections, the facility has a larger property and population, serving youth ages 12 to 18. The smaller of the two facilities is the Valley Oak Youth Academy, which serves teenagers and young adults between the ages of 14 and 25 who have been convicted of “serious violent felonies” in an attempt to promote reintegration and reduce recidivism.
On Sept. 25, the grand jurors toured the Sacramento County Main Jail for two hours and visited the booking and living areas, as well as medical services such as dental and mental health. The main service of the jail is to intake almost all of those who are arrested in the county, although it also supports detainees’ mental health through its provision of group observation and isolation pods. The jurors noted some significant challenges that the Sacramento County Main Jail faced, such as its “increased demand for medical and mental health care,” legal conflicts with the Mays Consent Decree, and obsolete infrastructure.
The Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center was toured on Oct. 23 in rural Elk Grove. For three hours, jurors examined medical facilities and living, eating and vocational learning areas. The center’s main function is to take into custody individuals who have been sentenced to county detention. The center “provides training in automotive repair, printing, welding, and metal fabrication, and also assists with placement upon release,” aiming to decrease further incarceration and benefit both inmates and society. Jurors cited the center’s outdated infrastructure as cause for concern regarding the physical challenges the facility faces.
Folsom State Prison, commonly referred to as “Old” Folsom Prison, and “New” Folsom Prison, officially named California State Prison, Sacramento, were visited on Nov. 6 and Nov. 20, respectively. “Old” Folsom is a minimum- to medium-security (level II-III) facility, while “New” Folsom is a medium- to maximum-security facility, thus offering fewer rehabilitative opportunities. Grand jurors concluded that “to a degree … effort is made to provide … rehabilitation for a population ranging from minimum-security shorter-term inmates to those with the highest level of security needs, who may be incarcerated for many years.”
Follow the Vanguard on Social Media – X, Instagram and Facebook. Subscribe the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
