Two contractors recently struck a deal to build a new jail in San Mateo County. According to the San Francisco Business Times, the two companies, Sundt Construction Inc. and Layton Construction Co. Inc., which have experience building jails, won a bid to build the new $130 million Redwood City Jail on 4.75 acres of land..

"The combined experience of our construction teams in building and managing criminal justice projects, as well as our use of the industry’s most cutting-edge computer technology, will ultimately deliver an upgraded facility that will better serve the inmate population and the taxpayers of San Mateo County," Steve Blaylock, project director at Sundt Construction, said.

Layton Construction Co. is the 37th largest contractor in the United States and has experience in a variety of industries including healthcare, education, retail, warehouse and detention facilities. The two teams will be using the construction manager at risk method, which Blaylock said will allow the Sundt team to maximize budget and timing efficiency while consulting during the development and design phases.

The project began in June and is expected to be complete by 2014, and officials hope it will reduce overcrowding issues that the county has been experiencing over the years. A recent Palo Alto Daily News article described potential plans for easing the overcrowding at the Redwood City jail. Although authorities are considering an electronic monitoring program to expand pretrial release of inmates, greater use of San Mateo County bail bonds might be a better option. The newspaper quoted an official who said 230 of 950 pretrial inmates are eligible for bail.

The new facility will feature dedicated spaces for vocational and educational training and a substance abuse program as well as transitional housing to help the inmates with reintegrating into a normal lifestyle after their release.

The new county jail is part of a program introduced by Governor Jerry Brown last year that aims to send newly sentenced offenders to county jails as opposed to state prisons. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, 32 of California's 58 counties expect to build new jails or expand facilities by 2015.