Los Angeles County has long wanted to break ground on a women's jail project, but recent chatter out of Sacramento indicates their bid for $80 million in grant funding has been shot down.

Local detentions officials have long-hoped to construct a 1,600-bed facility at the Mira Loma Detention Center site.  In order to do that, they said, they'd use $100 million in state grant funding they received last year but would still need another $80 million this year in order to get the project off the ground.

The additional funds had reportedly been earmarked to construct facilities geared toward providing vocational programs, educational opportunities and other types of life-skills training.  Other areas were also in the works, and were slighted to provide mental health and substance abuse counseling.

One LA County Sheriff's Department representative said they envisioned the new women's jail as becoming a national model.

A state committee has approved giving $500 million to county jail projects throughout California.  Los Angeles County's new women's jail, however, was not on that list.

Projects that did make the approved list included grants of $80 million to Orange County, $40 million to Tulare County and $38 million to Santa Barbara County.

For now, the LA County Sheriff's Department is trying to regroup.  The current Lynwood Jail is about 60% over capacity, they said, which is leading to countless inmates being released before their sentences are up.

A countywide jail plan is still in the works, they said, and a final decision has not yet been made in terms how to deal with the loss of funding for the Mira Loma Jail project.