By Rosalio Ahumada
The Sacramento Bee
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The rural roads leading to the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center in south Sacramento County were flooding quickly on New Year’s Day 2023.
Sacramento County sheriff’s Lt. Shelly Hodgkins took her chances in her Toyota Camry, traversing those flooded roads. The water, she said, almost pushed her sedan off the road.
Hodgkins had to get to the jail facility known as The Farm near Elk Grove. More than 1,000 inmates had to be evacuated. Hodgkins, who was in charge at RCCC at the time, needed to safely transport the incarcerated inmates to other detention centers in the region.
“The whole place was going under water out there,” Hodgkins said about the roads leading to the jail. “We’re going to roll the dice, because somebody has to be out there to manage this.”
A New Year’s Eve “atmospheric river” storm had dumped about 3 inches of rain in the Sacramento region, which led to nearby breached levees. It was among a succession of storms that pummeled California, destroying homes, flooding cities and killing at least 17 people, including three whose bodies were found later near flooded Highway 99 not far from threatened jail.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office evacuated all the inmates in several hours overnight and into the following day. They relocated them to other detention centers in the Sacramento region, not knowing whether rising water from a nearby levee breach would continue to threaten the jail facility.
All of this was coordinated with only a general RCCC evacuation plan to offer some guidance.
They adjusted the evacuation as they determined where to take the inmates and how to safely transport them, while considering security safety risks with only one available route in and out of the jail as flood water overtook surrounding roads.
Hodgkins, who now heads sheriff’s security at Sacramento Superior Court, said an operation the size of the RCCC evacuation requires fluidity.
“We might plan to do things a particular way, but the second we put it into motion you quickly recognize this is just taking twice as long,” Hodgkins said about the challenges they encountered with the evacuation. “As the evening progressed, we got quicker and quicker and quicker at it, because everybody was learning on-the-fly.”
She said it’s difficult to say now whether a plan with specific details would’ve made the evacuation any easier.
Sheriff Jim Cooper, who had only been in office for about a month, tried driving to RCCC on Jan. 1, 2023 . But flooded roads blocked his attempt.
“I drove back and had the helicopter come pick me up, because I wanted to lay eyes on it and see what was actually going on,” Cooper said. “We flew over the facility, RCCC, the surrounding areas, and it was evident to me that the waters were rising and we needed to evacuate the inmates.”
He said the biggest concern was the safety of the inmates and staff, but it was clear there wouldn’t be enough space at the downtown jail to house 1,075 inmates evacuated from RCCC.
‘A monstrous task’
On Dec. 29, 2022, the National Weather Service issued a flood watch for most of interior Northern California including the Sacramento Valley, where 2 to 4 inches of rain was expected to fall through the morning of New Year’s Day. Forecasters warned moderate to heavy rainfall could result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams and flood-prone areas.
Hodgkins said sheriff’s officials were already discussing what they might have to do in the days leading up to the holiday. Some preparation was being done, but the decision for a full evacuation hadn’t yet been made.
“It’s a monstrous task to accomplish,” Hodgkins said. “There’s a lot of considerations that go into that. At what point do we finally just say, ‘Okay, empty the place out.’”
Through a California Public Records Act request, The Sacramento Bee received all plans, communications, emails and other documents that detail the plans and arrangements to evacuate inmates housed at RCCC in early January 2023 due to the threat of flooding from the winter storms and storm runoff.
Among the released records was a facility-wide evacuation plan that calls for mobilizing all available sheriff’s resources and staff, including off-duty jail staff, patrol deputies and court security. The plan indicates the downtown jail as the main evacuation point. If the downtown jail wasn’t available, California prison facilities and other county jails in the region may be used with permission.
Hodgkins, in a Dec. 29, 2022, email, informed jail staff that they already were doing some “preliminary preparation” due to the upcoming storms in case flooding occurs, and operations staff would monitor rainfall. She asked staff to let her know if rising water became a concern or if there are any emergencies.
Two days before the evacuation, RCCC staff had gathered all available evacuation information and made it available to supervisors.
Lt. Frank Fermer, who was as an assistant commander at the downtown jail, said staff tasked with determining safety risks for inmates would be burdened with a lot of responsibility, since inmates “would be stuffed” into day rooms and indoor recreation areas with RCCC deputies watching everyone.
“I will preface this email first that on the SSO side there is no concern that RCCC is in danger of flooding during these next couple of storms. However, I want to put a bug in everyone’s ear in case,” Fermer said in an email two days before the evacuation. “I just don’t want anyone being caught off guard if an emergency did happen and that handle was pulled.”
In a Dec. 31, 2022, email to Hodgkins, Lt. Kelli Maness-Duncan said RCCC supervisory staff had reviewed documents detailing what to do in the event of flooding. Maness-Duncan told Hodgkins the documents “were helpful to some extent but many are extremely outdated with some appearing on Sheriff John McGinness letterhead.” McGinness retired as sheriff in December 2010 .
Maness-Duncan also told Hodgkins that one of the most relevant resources that would likely be needed is a current list of RCCC bus drivers.
“As we work (the) night shift, most of us are unaware of who should be contacted in the event we must evacuate the inmates and have them transported to the Main Jail, at least without referring to shift schedules,” Maness-Duncan said in the email.
Security risks
On New Year’s Eve, the order to evacuate RCCC hadn’t been given. But sheriff’s officials feared word about their preparations would get out through the inmates and create “severe security risks” at RCCC, Sgt. Christopher Barney told jail staff.
He said they were on a “wait and see” status and instructed jail staff not to discuss anything about an evacuation around the inmates.
“We are trying to set the framework in place in the event of an emergency. As we do this, sensitive information and tasks will be delegated to team members,” Barney said in a Dec. 31, 2022 , email. “Please do not broadcast over the radio or discuss in front of inmates. If an evacuation is imminent, each facility needs to turn off inmate phones and televisions to prevent inmate panic.”
Sheriff’s officials were worried word would spread outside the jail, along with the planned routes for the buses taking the inmates to other detention centers.
Hodgkins said relocating so many inmates at the same time is “a huge safety and security” risk. Even after shutting down the phones and trying to minimize communication, she said it’s difficult to keep that a secret for any length of time.
Sheriff’s command staff secured space for the evacuated inmates at California State Prison Sacramento (also known as new Folsom ) and California State Prison Solano. Other inmates were temporarily housed at the jails in El Dorado and Yuba counties, until RCCC could be deemed safe and reopened.
A Sacramento Police Department helicopter conducted aerial reconnaissance to find “suitable routes” for the buses to and from the jail, routes that had to be verified by sheriff’s personnel before the inmates were evacuated, according to sheriff’s records requested by The Bee.
Bus routes out of the jail
Hodgkins said inmates from rival gangs can’t be loaded on the same bus, inmates under protective custody can’t ride with just anyone and inmates suffering mental health issues have to be transported in a manner that reduces risk of harm to themselves or others.
She said they put everyone on notice beforehand, especially RCCC bus drivers, because they have experience transporting inmates on a daily basis. Inmates from RCCC are routinely driven to the downtown courthouse to appear for scheduled hearings.
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“They’re familiar with the facility, they’re familiar with the routes, they’re familiar with the security measures,” Hodgkins said. “That was a no-brainer to use them.”
But she said those bus drivers wouldn’t be enough to safely get all the inmates out in a timely manner. More drivers and secured vehicles would be needed. She credited jail staff and deputies for evacuating the inmates as quickly as possible.
Hodgkins said sheriff’s command staff have since updated evacuation procedures, but they remain “bare bones” plans that instruct sheriff’s officials to identify routes and getting enough personnel to carry out the evacuation.
“We just have to keep being creative about how we keep accelerating this process,” Hodgkins said about the evacuation. “Having an idea and a plan in place going into it, it gives you the bones, but then you need these people who are good at their jobs and who can think on their feet and who think outside the box.”
The inmates were evacuated from the jail overnight, starting shortly before 10 p.m. Jan. 1, 2023 , and finishing about 12:30 p.m. the following day, according to a sheriff’s breakdown of the evacuation. Sheriff’s buses transported the inmates overnight, along with buses from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation . The prison buses came along with their own drivers and security personnel. Secured sheriff’s vans also were used in the evacuation.
RCCC repopulation
After the inmates were evacuated, an engineering company from the California National Guard and the Cosumnes Fire Department installed a tiger dam system to “protect vital structures” at RCCC and reduce flood damage at the jail, sheriff’s officials said. Tiger dams are portable flood barriers that can be installed to divert rising water. The jail did not sustain any significant damage from flooding.
While the inmates were housed at other detention centers, sheriff’s officials had to continue to make sure they made it to their scheduled court hearings in Sacramento and any necessary medical appointments, Hodgkins said. Inmates had to have access to needed medication, visits with their attorneys and phone calls to their families, even if they were being housed elsewhere, she said.
Attorneys at the Prison Law Office, which litigated a class action lawsuit regarding jail conditions, said inmates were significantly impacted by their relocation. The attorneys visited the downtown jail on Jan. 12, 2023 , and found about a dozen inmates sleeping on small mattresses on the floor of an indoor recreation room.
By Jan. 17, 2023 , the repopulation had been completed and inmates had been returned to RCCC.
Margot Mendelson and Patrick Booth , attorneys with the Prison Law Office, said they received many complaints about inmates who went without their required medication and others relocated without their personal belongings or phone numbers to call their families.
“They need a plan of how to ensure medication, continuity of court dates and medical treatment,” Mendelson said. “They’re human beings with medical and psychological needs.”
Only a small group of sheriff’s officials remained at RCCC to secure the temporarily closed jail and try to minimize damage from the rising water. The place was essentially empty for about two weeks.
“We could not have done it without the help of CDCR,” Cooper said. “They came in huge.”
The sheriff said the difficulties with such an evacuation is that so many inmates have to be relocated quickly while ensuring the safety of the inmates and jail staff as they’re transported. He said they made changes since New Year’s Day 2023, but he didn’t provide any specific details on what they would do if RCCC had to be evacuated quickly again.
“We’ve updated our plans, our operations orders,” Cooper told The Bee. “If it happens, we’re prepared.”
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