Placer County Jail-Auburn Inmate Search

Like most populations in California, Auburn has seen substantial growth. At one time, just a small town, it is now a vibrant city with a diverse population. However, this same growth has also required growth in other not so popular sectors such as the jail facilities.

Placer County jail has existed in Auborn since the early 1980s. This is a relatively new facility built out of a need to house the growing prison population. Currently, there is a national prison population of approximately 2.2 million people. This more than 500% increase has necesitated the construction of newer prison facilities like Place County Jail.

This newer facility opened in 1985. The construction implied a cost of $4.5 million and the funding of the structure was supplied by Proposition 4, a financial bonds initiative. At that time the California State Board of Corrections (BOC) averaged the facility for just 108 inmates. However, the growing percentile of needed incarcerations due to law and regulation changes required the county jail to increase its holdings. The 108 head count was too restrictive a number, and within two months of operation the number had already reached 148. In 1990, the inmate population had grown to more than 200 inmates, far more than the allowable BOC limit of 108.

In 1990, the Federal court authorized the construction of a 260-bed additional facility. This area opened in April of 1992 at a total cost of $3.5 million. Funding for the added wing came from tax propositions 52 and 96.

These new wings consist of three medium-security dorms with a capacity of 92 inmates each. There is also an additional maximum-security wing with a capacity of 32 inmates. All dormitory wings have a direct supervision construction with custody officer stations in each of the dorms. The entire facility also contains an indirect housing booth for added supervision. Today, most of the dorms are double bunked as authorized by BOC.

As of opening the Placer County Jail Auburn in 1984, jail authorities converted an existing barracks unit into minimum security barracks. These were originally World War II Army warehouses build in the early 1940s. These outer buildings consisted of three housing units, two male and one female with a capacity for 160 inmates. However, on May 21, 2014, these minimum security prison wings were closed and existing inmates were transported out of the facility. Most were moved to the South Placer Jail facility.