After months of focusing on the site near the old Natividad hospital grounds as the ideal location for a secure re-entry prison facility, Monterey County officials are now looking at other possible locations.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation expressed concerns with the site near the Monterey County Sheriff's Office, including: the elevation of the land; the existing buildings that would have to be destroyed; and the road that goes through the area.

County officials are now looking at other parcels of land in Salinas, including the existing Juvenile Hall as an option…

Residents aired their views on community safety vs. parolee rehabilitation at a community meeting Thursday night to discuss the proposed building of a state prison re-entry facility in Salinas.

More than 60 Salinas-area residents attended the two-hour meeting at Sherwood Hall, some of them weighing in on the issue before Monterey County and Salinas city leaders vote to decide whether the state can build a prison re-entry facility which would house up to 500 nonviolent inmates serving the last year of their sentences.

"If we want to lower crime (in the county) we need to turn the tide and this is the first step," said Monterey County Sheriff Mike Kanalakis…

Just as the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury issued a mid-year report urging the county approve a re-entry facility, a delay in a much expected community meeting is making at least one Salinas council member re-think her position.

In a rare mid-year report, the grand jury is urging the Monterey County Board of Supervisors to educate the public about the issues surrounding the re-entry facility so it can get the money needed to expand the existing jail…

Monterey County Sheriff Mike Kanalakis asked the Salinas City Council on Tuesday to support a prisoner re-entry facility next to the old Natividad Hospital in Salinas. If the council does not lend its support to the facility by Aug. 14, the county will lose $80 million in state funds to expand the ever-crowded county jail.

Residents who live close to the proposed location - the Monterey County government campus that houses the Sheriff's Office at 1414 Natividad Road - came to the meeting with concerns about bringing more violent inmates to the area.

Jonabel Perez, a mother of three, was one of 11 people to voice their opinions on the project. She told the City Council that re-entry facilities are needed, but they should not be situated in the middle of Salinas…

After looking at sites as far away as Soledad, Monterey County officials have picked the old Natividad Hospital grounds to build a 500-bed prisoner re-entry facility, practically in the existing jail's backyard.

"It was a combination of meetings with (public officials) working together collaboratively and constructively to come up with a suitable location," Sheriff Mike Kanalakis said.

Monterey County was picked by the state to receive an $80-million grant to improve its aging, overcrowded jail with one condition: Find a piece of land in the county where the state can build a prisoner re-entry facility within 90 days. The announcement was made May 8…

Monterey County is set to receive $80 million in state funds to expand its long-overcrowded and outdated county jail, but there's still a catch — and it's a big one.

Officials have 90 days to find and clear title on a site suitable for the state to build a 500-bed prisoner re-entry facility.

The county's long hoped-for jail expansion funds are inextricably tied to state plans to set up re-entry sites around California intended to improve paroling inmates' chances of succeeding once they return to their communities…