Madison prison opponents reacted to the Yolo County Board of Supervisors’ unanimous decision to withdraw the offer to build a state prison in Madison or any other area of Yolo County.

“This time, with a unanimous vote, the board of supervisors confirmed what we had been saying all along,” said Leo Refsland, chairman of Save Rural Yolo County. “The process that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Corrections Standards Authority use to site and build re-entry facilities is flawed and detrimental to Yolo County in the long run.”

He was one of several members of Save Rural Yolo County who attended the meeting and rejoiced at the supervisors’ decision to “pull the plug” on the plan to build a prison in the unincorporated town of 384 residents.

Save Rural Yolo County is the grassroots group whose members organized to oppose the construction of a state prison in Madison or any other area of rural Yolo County.

County supervisors had offered the Madison site to the state in exchange for $30 million in state funds to expand the county jail. At a meeting on Sept. 16, 2008, supervisors voted 3-1-1 to recommend the Madison site to the state, with Supervisor Duane Chamberlain dissenting. Shortly thereafter, state budget problems worsened, threatening the availability of funding for both the prison construction and county jail expansion.

In addition, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation evaluated the Madison site and determined that flood control would be a significant problem, along with infrastructure issues such as lack of an adequate water supply. The corrections department indicated that those problems could be overcome if Yolo County and/or the private property owner were willing to contribute.

At their May 5, 2009 meeting, the board of supervisors voted 5-0 to revoke their offer to the corrections department, citing financial issues as well as difficulty working with the state corrections bureaucracy.

Following the board’s vote, the county is communicating with the state to end the prior agreement for sitting a prison in rural Yolo County. The lawsuits by Save Rural Yolo County and the Yolo County Farm Bureau will then likely be dismissed.

“The outstanding efforts by Yolo County Farm Bureau and Save Rural Yolo County led the widespread community opposition to the prison,” said Tom Barth, counsel for Save Rural Yolo County.

Current Press:

Woodland Daily Democrat, May 6, 2009

Davis Enterprise, May 6, 2009

Sacramento Bee, May 6, 2009

The People’s Vanguard of Davis, May 7, 2009

California Farm Bureau Federation, May 13, 2009