Yuba County Sheriff's Department ponders move to bigger building

Yuba County officials said they are now just months away from having designs done for a new county Sheriff's Department, with construction work not expected until later this year at the soonest.

County Administrative Officer Robert Bendorf and Supervisor John Nicoletti said officials from the county and the Sheriff's Department are discussing how the department will fit into an existing 55,000-square-foot building on Yuba Street in Marysville.

"It'll be about three months until things are finished," said Bendorf, speaking at a meeting of the Marysville City/County Liaison Committee Thursday.

About 100 employees would move out of the county courthouse and jail and into the building, which housed Caltrans until the state transportation agency moved into its B Street building in 2008.

Though county officials first considered the Yuba Street building in the last decade, the economic downturn made it more affordable in recent years.

But Nicoletti said the first round of architectural drawings for how the building would be renovated was not as frugally friendly.

"It became incredibly expensive, and we hit the brakes with both feet," he said. "I think we're on track now."

Already, the county is using a space near the future Sheriff's Department for people to check in under criminal justice realignment, Bendorf said.

Marysville City Services Director Dave Lamon said he was interested in an update because the move will also free up parking spaces around the existing department.

According to Lamon, a business owner across the street from the courthouse asked the city for help because many parking spaces nearby stay full all day from courthouse workers, including Sheriff's Department employees.