Official groundbreaking for new $68M sheriff's building in El Dorado County

Ground was broken recently on the new 11-acre El Dorado County Sheriff's Public Safety Facility, a project that will cost $68 million, a low interest $57 million loan from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and $11 million from the County.

At the present, the 13 buildings used by the Sheriff's department on the West Slope are spread out through the county, and many are over 50 years old, built when the county's population was under 40,000. The estimated population is now over 188,000. The new facility will combine all services into one location, including a new morgue for autopsies, something currently outsourced to Sacramento. The centralized operations will also include administration and office space, a shooting range, and storage for evidence, vehicles and special operations.

The location of the department will be on County owned property on Industrial Drive in Diamond Springs, off of Missouri Flat Road. A portion of that property are the current residences of a small homeless population who will have to relocate once construction begins.

The 108,000 square-foot campus will allow for improved operational efficiency among departmental staff, improved worker environment and efficiencies, technological expansion and improvements, open direct lines of communication between the various operations of the Public Safety Facility, and reduced operational costs through energy efficiencies and elimination of rental expenses. Combined, this facility will result in better access and service to the residents of El Dorado County, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Construction is anticipated to begin in spring 2018, with substantial completion of the project estimated for the fall of 2019.