Agenda 11-18-2025; 8-n - Approval of a Contract with O’Brien Atkins for Design and Engineering Services for the Renovation of the Link Center and the Sheriff’s Office Evidence Storage Facility

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90 4 flexible space for administrative, public-facing, and support functions. However, in recent years, the building began experiencing persistent water intrusion problems, which led to the displacement of all occupants and rendered the building unfit for use in 2019. The building is currently vacant. The proposed project will repurpose the Link Center to serve as the new headquarters for the Orange County Sheriff's Office. This relocation will enable the Sheriff's Office to consolidate and expand its operations in a modernized facility specifically designed to meet the needs of a contemporary law enforcement agency. Importantly, the move will also allow the County to unlock valuable space within the existing Justice Center, thus clearing the way for a future Justice Center annex—one of the key long-term priorities in the County's Justice Space Needs project. Currently, the Sheriff's Office occupies the ground floor of the Justice Center in a space totaling approximately 12,437 square feet. While this space has served its purpose over the years, it is undersized and functionally limited for a growing agency with expanding responsibilities. By transitioning into the renovated Link Center, the Sheriff's Office will gain dedicated space designed to accommodate administrative functions, investigative divisions, command staff, secure areas, and community interface components in a manner that promotes operational efficiency and long-term scalability. Additionally, due to the size of Link, some of the evidence processing that currently occurs within the evidence storage will move to Link as part of the renovation. B. Evidence Storage Facility The second component of this initiative arises from long-standing challenges with the Sheriff's Office's current evidence storage setup, which is located beneath the old jail structure. This space was never designed to serve as a long-term evidence storage facility and has struggled for years to keep pace with the operational demands of a modern law enforcement agency.As case volumes, evidence types, and chain-of-custody requirements have grown in complexity, the limitations of the existing facility have become increasingly apparent. The layout of the current storage area complicates day-to-day operations, with limited capacity, aging infrastructure, and suboptimal security features that hinder efficient processing and preservation of sensitive materials. Its location beneath an outdated structure further exacerbates access challenges and introduces logistical inefficiencies that affect both personnel and case workflows. These operational constraints have placed strain on evidence technicians and introduced avoidable risks to the integrity of stored materials. The County has identified these deficiencies as a significant obstacle to meeting modern law enforcement standards and accreditation requirements. Addressing them is a critical component of the broader effort to modernize public safety infrastructure and ensure compliance with national best practices in evidence handling.