May 22, 2012
CalFire crews have training in preparation
A unit purchased with a Department of Homeland Security grant about four months ago will be stationed with the Shasta-Trinity Unit in the Redding area, Capt. Kyle Johnson said.
"We're pretty excited about it," Johnson said. "The guts are the same (as the vehicle being replaced), but it's a little different so we're trying to get as many people oriented to it as possible."
The engine in the command center, which is the sixth one to be put into service state-wide, is the same as those on the newer engines, which will make things easier for the mechanics, Johnson said...
LINK - RedBluffDailyNEws.com
May 22, 2012
Symptoms of system in shambles - AB 109 Editorial
There was a lot of skepticism last year when Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 109 into law. As it turns out, it looks like the skeptics had it right.
AB 109 triggered the governor’s realignment strategy, which involves shifting low-level offenders from the state prison system to county jails throughout California.
At first glance, the plan seems to have the advantage of simplicity — the U.S. Supreme Court leans on the state to improve its process of crime and punishment, so inmates get shuttled off to local jails...
LINK - LompocRecord.com
May 21, 2012
City CCFs plan on re-opening?
Several community correctional facilities in Kern County will remain empty for at least a little while longer, but the cities are preparing for the inmates that may once again fill their buildings.
The facilities in Shafter, Taft and Delano have been without inmates since the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation ended its contracts with them last year when offenders were returned to counties under realignment. Since then, hopes for refilling the correctional buildings have hinged on securing contracts with counties to shelter their inmates...
LINK - BakersfieldCalifornian.com
May 8, 2012
Matt Cate talks about relignment (audio on link)
Thirty years ago, the state spent three percent of its general fund dollars on corrections and prisons. Today it spends more than 11 percent – that’s $10 billion running the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
In 2011, when Governor Brown took office, he inherited a massive corrections problem. The state's 33 prisons were at nearly 200 percent capacity, and the recidivism rate was running at 70 percent. The federal courts stepped in and ordered California to reduce its overcrowded prisons by more than 30,000 people...
LINK - KALW.org
May 7, 2012
Berryhill: Build More Prisons
Republican Senator Tom Berryhill criticized the state's AB 109 prisoner realignment program.
On this past weekend's Mother Lode View, Berryhill slammed the program, which has resulted in many felons being monitored by local probation departments, rather than going to prison. Governor Jerry Brown pushed for the new plan after a three Judge panel mandated that California reduce its prison population by over 30,000 inmates. Berryhill said he would have preferred the state to "build more prisons and hire more guards." Berryhill added, "If they get caught (criminals), they immediately get released, and they know that there are no consequences."
On the issue of water, Berryhill stated that lawmakers are planning to delay a vote on the $11 billion bond issue until 2014. It is currently slated to go on the November ballot, but early polling shows that it has little chance of passing in the current economic climate. Berryhill remains in support of the legislation, which was authored in 2009 by then Mother Lode Senator Dave Cogdill...
LINK - MyMotherLode.com
May 3, 2012
Corrections’ master plan falls short
The Department of Corrections’ recently released ten-year master plan “The Future of California Corrections” does not manage to escape the massive gravitational pull of 30 years of failed prison policy and in the end fails to offer a vision of a better future for California.
The CDCR has been going through an extended identity crisis since 2005 when then-Secretary Rod Hickman declared Delano II to be the last prison that California would build, announcing an end to a 25 year run of runaway prison construction. Widespread opposition to that prison, the persistent budget crisis and consistent polling results that showed Californians opposed to spending more on prisons left CDCR looking for a new mission...
LINK - CapitolWeekly.net
May 3, 2012
Correcting problems in prisons
There was a time, not so long ago, when the California prison system seemed headed inevitably for a complete meltdown.
There were about 140,000 inmates in facilities designed to handle about 80,000. Sick prisoners weren’t getting the treatment they needed, and the in-prison death rate soared. The Department of Corrections was spending billions warehousing criminals, many of whom, after serving their time and being released, quickly broke the law again and were shuttled back inside.
It got so bad that federal agencies began to intervene. The courts ordered state prison medical care to be overseen by someone outside the prison hierarchy. Then, a year ago this month, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the California prison inmate population to be significantly reduced — or else...
LINK - LompocRecord.com
May 2, 2012
OC taps reserves to pay for realignment prisoners
Orange County is tapping into its reserves to cover a Sheriff's Department budget shortfall blamed mostly on the state's prisoner realignment program.
The Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to take $11.4 million from reserves to cover much of the department's deficit...
LINK - KTVN.com
May 1, 2012
Man charged with beating girlfriend was parolee released from jail early to relieve crowding
A man charged with the attempted murder of his girlfriend was a parole violator who had been released early from county jail because of overcrowding, state and county authorities said Tuesday.
Raoul Leyva, 33, was in county custody because of the state's seven-month-old realignment law, which sends lower-level offenders to jails instead of state prison...
LINK - TheRepublic.com
May 1, 2012
Norco prison closure may move jobs, but open other opportunities
The possible closure of a state prison in Norco is fanning fears that it may hurt the local economy. Some support the closure.
In years past, the Norconian resort was one of the grandest hotels around, complete with a golf course, man-made lake, and even a lakeside pavilion.
"It was fantastic," said Norco Mayor Kevin Bash. "Clark Gable came here, you had Gene Harlow, you had the Three Stooges. You name a movie star, they came here."
Today, however, convicts are the ones who stay on site. In the 1960s, the place was transformed into a prison. Now the state is considering selling it to save money...
LINK - ABCLocal.GO.com
April 30, 2012
Bill to Ease Jail Overcrowding Voted Down
An Inland Empire lawmaker's bill, aimed at easing overcrowding in local jails by requiring that inmates serving sentences of three or more years automatically go to prison, was voted down in a Senate committee last week.
Sen. Bill Emmerson, R-Riverside, introduced Senate Bill 1441 with the intent of amending legislation signed into law a year ago by Gov. Jerry Brown that allowed convicted felons to be sentenced to multiple years in counties' detention facilities, whereas before anyone sentenced to more than a year behind bars went to the penitentiary...
LINK - Murrieta.Patch.com
April 30, 2012
Fresno Bee Editorial on Realignment
The one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming that California would have to lower the number of inmates in its overcrowded 33-prison system comes in May.
So where are we? The prison population has dropped dramatically -- by 22,000 inmates. The triple bunks in gymnasiums, dayrooms and other areas are gone. Most prisons are noticeably quieter and less violent.
The finality of the U.S. Supreme Court decision provided focus for all parties to get on with the task of reducing the state's prison population...
LINK - FresnoBee.com
April 26, 2012
Solano County grand jury cites prison’s overtime costs (CSP-Solano) recommends contract transport
Following inspections of one of Vacaville's prisons, the Solano County grand jury reported Wednesday that more could be done to combat the issues of inmate cell phone use, high overtime costs and the lack of recreation equipment.
The report of California State Prison-Solano was based on two separate visits to the prison in September and November and was part of the grand jury's responsibility to inspect the condition and management of the county's prisons.
During the grand jury's visit to the medium-security prison in September, it was reportedly operating at 144 percent of its capacity, with a total of 5,200 Level II and higher-risk Level III inmates...
LINK - TheReporter.com
April 26, 2012
Fewer prisoners at California Men’s Colony
California prison ‘realignment’ reduces population at the site, will result in job cuts over time
Fewer prisoners are being sent to the California Men’s Colony, and the institution expects to lose 200 additional custodial and noncustodial jobs over time, according to a report from the San Luis Obispo County civil grand jury.
State law requires the county to assess the state of the prison annually, and this year grand jurors have done so in the wake of the state’s so-called “realignment,” under which county governments have received responsibility for managing and supervising certain offenders who previously were sent to state prison or paroled...
LINK - SanLuisObispo.com
April 21, 2012
Prison realignment hasn’t yet compromised safety in Butte County
Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said, up to this point, realignment is being achieved without a serious compromise to public safety.
"Unfortunately, the major consequence of AB109 is that there will be people out on the street that shouldn't be there and in the past would have been in custody," Ramsey said.
The Sacramento-based Criminal Justice Legal Foundation claims offenders who now qualify for local jail or treatment under AB109 are already being arrested for new felonies, including violent crimes. The new law prevents criminals whose most recent conviction is for one of a host of theft- or drug-related felonies from being sentenced to state prison...
LINK - OrovilleMR.com
April 20, 2012
With growing number of parolees in San Fernando Valley, LAPD scrambles to keep its eye on them
The children playing and laughing in the backyard next door couldn't see it, but police officers had forced open a safe in their Woodland Hills neighbor's garage and found a collection of guns and rifles.
The team led by LAPD Sgt. Jeff Nuttall had gone to the home to check on Byrone London, who had recently served a prison sentence for obstructing and resisting arrest.
London was supposed to stay away from weapons and drugs or risk ending up back behind bars. But here he was, living in a relative's house where firearms were stored and, officers believe, facing a risk of abusing drugs again...
LINK - DailyNews.com
April 18, 2012
Solano Reentry Council to meet
The Solano Reentry Council will hold its next quarterly general meeting from 1 to 3 p.m. on Thursday.
The meeting will be held at the County Events Center, 601 Texas Street in Fairfield and is open to the public.
The meeting will focus on homelessness and the criminal justice system. The featured presenter will be Zack Olmstead, homeless policy advocate at Housing California. Olmstead advocates for policy reform to prevent and end homelessness and coordinates the efforts of homeless advocacy partners throughout the state...
LINK - TheReporter.com
April 13, 2012
State prison realignment program impacts local crime
The Glendale Police Department has redirected $650,000 to deal with parolees and individuals on probation since the state-mandated release of some prison inmates began two years ago, officials said this week.
The department’s Special Enforcement Detail has been fully dedicated to monitoring former inmates and identifying related crime trends. That’s a far cry from the detail’s original duties of preventive patrolling, Sgt. Tom Lorenz said...
LINK - Articles.GlendaleNewsPress.com
April 13, 2012
Jury Out on Prisoner Early Release
The jury is still out on whether Democratic Governor Jerry Brown's plan to alleviate crowding at the state's prisons will work for local governments as well as the state.
Under what Brown describes as "realignment," thousands of offenders who might previously have ended up in state prison are being placed in county jails or other programs in order to meet a mandated June 2013 deadline for reducing the prison population by 30,000...
LINK - NBCLosAngeles.com
April 12, 2012
Early release from county jails gives rise to a new class of criminal
A state assembly bill intended to alleviate California’s fiscal burden of housing prison inmates has created a new, sub-class of criminal that has the potential to overwhelm law enforcement agencies if the law is implemented without promise of proper funding.
During an April 5 panel held at Mountain View Middle School in Beaumont, several participants discussed the implications of Assembly Bill 109, which essentially stipulated the transfer of criminals from state prison back to their home communities, starting back in October 2011. County jails are being forced to make room for more inmates due to the fact that state prisons will no longer be accepting inmates for misdemeanors and “lesser” offenses — by releasing some of their own inmates...
LINK - RecordGazette.net
April 4, 2012
AB 109 parolee and NRP parolee released from prison, arrested for carjacking, assault
A third man is behind bars in connection to a carjacking which took place over the weekend, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Hesperia station officials said on Wednesday.
Parolee Robin Vanhaastert, 33, of Hesperia was arrested late Tuesday night at a home in the 9200 block of Sixth Avenue, according to a release.
Authorities received a 911 call on Saturday night reporting an assault and a carjacking, officials said. The victim stated he was attacked and carjacked at knifepoint...
LINK - VVDailyPress.com
April 3, 2012
Plan for supervision of released prisoners off to a rough start
A sweeping plan to make local officials responsible for supervising thousands of released prisoners previously monitored by the state has gotten off to a bumpy start in Los Angeles County.
Many of the ex-criminals are not showing up for counseling appointments, some care centers are not being paid and county bureaucrats are scrambling to correct foul-ups that have caused delays....
LINK - LATimes.com
March 29, 2012
Juvenile Justice Expert Says CA State Facilities Should Stay Open
For more than thirty years, it's been Barry Krisberg's priority to fight for reforms in California's state juvenile correctional facilities, known as the California Youth Authority (CYA) or Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). And now a change is coming at the DJJ.
Only three of California's state facilities still remain open, holding a total of about 800 to 900 youth, and soon the state will hand down responsibility of juvenile offenders to counties. But Krisberg, the Director of the of Research and Policy at the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute at UC Berkeley's School of Law, isn't so sure that this realignment is the wisest decision. Turnstyle sat down with him to discuss the coming changes to California's juvenile justice system and what they will mean for both the state of California and its counties...
LINK - HuffingtonPost.com
March 29, 2012
Is California Juvenile Correction So Bad? CDCR’s Bill Sessa Says, No.
In 2005, California's juvenile prison system got a face lift. The name changed from CYA, short for California Youth Authority, to the Division of Juvenile Justice or DJJ. And many policies began to change along with the name.
Today DJJ's population is just over a thousand wards, or inmates, down from a high of 10,000 in 1996. And of the 11 state facilities, only three remain. Many of the reforms stem from a 2003 ruling by the Superior Court of Alameda County that found the state juvenile justice system to be poorly managed and unsafe, and while no one can argue that today's system is the same as it was a decade ago, many critics argue that state facilities remain unequipped to manage juvenile detention and reform. On top of that, Governor Jerry Brown is pushing to close state facilities entirely in the face of unprecedented budget constraints...
LINK - HuffingtonPost.com
March 28, 2012
Prisoner realignment forces probation boost
Trinity County supervisors voted unanimously last week to approve a major reorganization of the county Probation Department, adding five new positions to help deal with a caseload that’s rising much faster than predicted under the statewide public safety realignment plan.
Known as AB 109 and in place since last October, the realignment program changed the sentencing requirements for certain non-serious, non-violent and non-sexual crimes from state prison to county jails to reduce overcrowding in the state facilities. The program also shifts parole responsibilities from the state to the counties for those inmates upon release from prison....
LINK - TrinityJournal.com
March 28, 2012
LA County’s parolee recidivism rate declines under Brown’s prison plan
The number of parolees arrested for new crimes in Los Angeles County has dropped since Gov. Jerry Brown's realignment plan took effect six months ago, drawing cautious optimism from some state and local officials.
The county Probation Department is currently supervising about 6,200 parolees - officially known as post-release supervised persons or PSPs - who were released from state prisons after Oct. 1.
As a group, PSPs have been involved in 1,600 arrests through mid-March, though only about 700 felony cases have been presented to the District Attorney's Office for prosecution...
LINK - ContraCostaTimes.com
March 27, 2012
Riverside County supervisors to take first step toward $237 million proposal to expand Indio jail
Riverside County supervisors are expected to formally accept Tuesday a $100 million state grant that would help expand jails and plan how to pay the 10 percent match.
The board also will discuss how to pay for the proposed expansion of the Indio jail, which could cost up to $237 million, requiring a $130 million commitment of county cash and smaller in-kind matches...
LINK - MyDesert.com
March 27, 2012
Rubio CCF Jobs Bill Passes Senate Public Safety
Senate Bill 1351—which would help restore over 200 well-paying jobs in the Central Valley—passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee with unanimous bipartisan support earlier this morning. This bill clarifies existing law to ensure that employees of public Community Correctional Facilities (CCFs) in California are granted sworn peace officer status and makes them eligible to be rehired upon CCFs contracting with counties.
Four Central Valley CCFs in Delano, Shafter, Taft and Coalinga each employed approximately 60 employees, though all were laid off with the implementation of the current ‘realignment’ plan that shifts many criminal justice responsibilities and costs from the state to individual counties. Each CCF is able to house over 500 inmates. The four affected communities all have high unemployment rates ranging from 15.2% to 37.0%—well above the statewide 11.4% jobless rate...
LINK - Turnto23.com
March 23, 2012
Experts Weigh In on the Pros and Cons of What AB 109 Means to Public-Private Partnerships
Signed by California Governor Jerry Brown less than a year ago in April 2011, assembly bill (AB) 109, the realignment process that is shifting low-level, nonviolent offenders from the state prison and parole system to county jails and probation departments only took effect a few months ago. While it is far too early to decide if this is a success or failure, it is clear that one of the major challenges will be for counties to identify long-term funding sources for these new responsibilities. What is also becoming more prevalent are public-private partnerships (P3) where government and private industry collaborate on a project - which is funded and operated through both entities - and which provide tremendous opportunities for both.
Correctional News recently sat down with four individuals from a variety of firms - Nick Warner, managing partner at Warner & Pank LLC, a government relations and legislative advocacy firm in Sacramento, Calif.; Peter Sukalo, vice president, justice group director for the Tutor Perini Corporation Building Group, of which Redwood City, Calif.-headquartered general and engineering contractor Rudolph and Sletten, Inc., is part of; Richard Worthington, president and COO of The Molasky Group of Companies, a real estate development and management firm based in Las Vegas, Nev.; Jeff Bradley, vice president, global justice program director, for HDR Architecture in Dallas, Texas; and Buddy Johns, president of CGL/Capital Solutions, a planning, design, facility finance and management firm based in Atlanta, Ga. All were candid in their thoughts about realignment as it relates to P3 projects and how their companies are and may be affected and benefited...
LINK - CorrectionalNews.com
March 22, 2012
California Inmate Reduction: ACLU Report Finds Counties Focusing On Jail Expansion
California counties receiving an influx of low-level convicts are preparing to spend millions of dollars for more jail space in the years ahead, but plans for reducing the number incarcerated are far less concrete.
That is the overarching finding of a new report by the ACLU of California, which analyzed how counties intend to use state money received through the Public Safety Realignment Act...
LINK - HuffingtonPost.com
March 22, 2012
Shafter Community Correctional Facility Could Open Soon
The Shafter Community Correctional Facility has been empty for the past four months.
The contract with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation ended in November, as the state turned over responsibility for nonviolent, nonsexual, nonserious offenders to counties.
Shafter has been communicating with several counties, including Los Angeles...
LINK - Turnto23.com
March 22, 2012
Prisoner exodus in California continues, sparking safety concerns
Facing a budget crunch and pressure from the courts, California Gov. Jerry Brown is chipping away at the state's tough-on-crime approach by shifting 33,000 felons out of the state's prison system. Releasing prisoners early is rarely popular, so the governor came up with a new plan, coining it realignment.
"People who commit low-level offenses, or parole offenses, are now serving their time in the county jail instead of being sentenced to state prison," explains California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Matt Cate. The state has transferred nearly 22,500 prisoners, or 15 percent of the inmate population, to the counties since last October...
LINK - FoxNews.com
March 21, 2012
Realignment Impacts Space Issues for High Security Inmates
In 2011, California passed several bills that called for prison realignment in the state as a way to cut costs in the budget, as well as cut California's prison population.
A federal court order was issued to California to reduce its prison population by June 2013. The order called to reduce overcrowding in California's 33 prisons to no more than 137.7 percent of the design capacity by 2013, according to a report by the California Legislative Analyst's Office.
However, with the thousands of low-level felons being shifted to county custody - making space for maximum-security inmates has been an issue that has many correctional officials thinking of where to house these serious criminals...
LINK - CorrectionalNews.com
March 16, 2012
He’d Rather Be in Prison
I decided to drop in on Sheriff Bill Brown’s jail to visit his most talked‑about new guest: 23-year man Jose Reyes Aceves.
Aceves just began what figures to be a record-setting jolt in our jail. I wanted to find out if he was happy to spend his drug-dealing sentence near home instead of (horrors!) state prison.
Even though he’ll probably only serve about 11 years instead of 23, so far, it’s the longest known term meted out under California’s new AB 109, in which nonviolent felons are sent to county jails in a move to relieve overcrowded prisons. Problem: Santa Barbara’s jail is also overcrowded.
No one has ever spent anywhere near that long in our jail. Most sentences are a year or less...
LINK - Independent.com
March 9, 2012
California’s prisons see increased demand for medical care despite population drop
Tens of thousands of inmates in California prisons suffer from complex and chronic diseases. That's unlikely to change much, even with a new law that’s expected to reduce the prison population by 40,000 within a few years. Longer “tough on crime” sentences mean people stay in prison longer and get sicker.
California's “realignment” law only sends people convicted of non-violent, non-serious and non-sexual felonies to county jails instead of state prison. Lawmakers enacted realignment to comply with a court order to reduce overcrowding to improve prison medical care. Since it took effect in October, the prison population has dropped by 17,000. But Federal Receiver Clark Kelso said that hasn’t lessened demand for treatment much...
LINK - SCPR.org
March 9, 2012
CA study views high-risk inmate move
The state can safely house some maximum-security inmates in lower-level prisons, a development that could save taxpayers money, according to a University of California study obtained by The Associated Press.
The 18-month study by five criminology experts comes as a new state law sends thousands of lower-level offenders to local jails instead of state prisons.
The shift leaves state prisons housing the most violent, serious or sex offenders...
LINK - MontereyHerald.com
March 9, 2012
Calif. gives $602M to help build 11 county jails
Eleven California counties will be getting millions of dollars from the state to help pay for expanding their jail facilities as responsibility for lower-level criminals shifts from state prisons to county lockups.
State prison officials say $602 million will be handed out for county jail construction or expansion projects.
The awards include $100 million each to Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange counties...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
March 7, 2012
Local jails see more inmates than expected as a result of prison realignment
California's plan to reduce the inmate population at state prisons is putting pressure on local jails.
Jails in both San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County have taken dozens of inmates since the start of the program in October.
As of last month, San Luis Obispo County has taken in 128 inmates who would have previously been sent to prison. That's double what the jail expected to receive by this time...
LINK - KSBY.com
March 2, 2012
State prison “realignment” falls short with plans for female ex-convicts
When Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law last year drastically changing the rules for oversight of low-level felons upon their release from prison, plans for handling the influx of female parolees fell between the cracks, say many experts.
"I've been screaming for a year, 'What are we going to do with the women?' " said Edwina Perez-Santiago, who on Thursday opened one of the few services in the state for assisting "AB 109 women." Her chief focus for the project, based in Richmond, is finding housing, a challenge heightened by laws barring felons from renting low-cost federal housing...
LINK - ContraCostaTimes.com
March 1, 2012
Emmerson wants to revisit prison realignment plan
State Sen. Bill Emmerson wants California lawmakers to take another look at the realignment that’s pushed more prisoners into county jails.
The realignment was inspired, in part, by a federal court order that required the state prison population get reduced by 33,000 prisoners.
But under the Legislature-approved realignment, Emmerson’s office said 52,000 convicted felons will be shifted to local jails by 2013-14...
LINK - PoliticalInsider.blogs.MyDesert.com
March 1, 2012
Editorial: Balance needed on jail spending vs. rehabilitation
Ever since lawmakers approved Gov. Jerry Brown's plan for public safety "realignment," local officials have engaged in a spirited debate about how much money should go to incarceration vs. rehabilitation.
In a letter to Sacramento County chief probation officer Don Meyer last week, Sacramento Assemblyman Roger Dickinson asked the county's Community Corrections Partnership to revisit its decision to give the bulk of the state Public Safety Realignment funding to the sheriff.
He is right to do so. The Community Corrections Partnership – which includes the sheriff, public defender, district attorney, Sacramento city police chief, the county's chief probation officer and a representative from the county's Health and Human Services Department – voted narrowly to use most of the state realignment money to expand jail capacity...
LINK - SacBee.com
February 28, 2012
RIVERSIDE COUNTY: Officials expect 450 more parolees
Riverside County must supervise nearly 450 more state parolees than first expected under a state law that shifts responsibility for low-level offenders to local authorities, the county’s chief probation officer said Tuesday.
Under the law, known as public-safety realignment or AB 109, Riverside County had expected to oversee 1,688 parolees this year, Chief Alan Crogan told supervisors.
But based on the actual number from October through January, that total is expected to grow to 2,136 by June 30, Crogan said...
LINK - PE.com
February 27, 2012
Riverside County agencies struggling due to more inmates, parolees
Riverside County agencies are struggling to manage the increased workload resulting from a higher number of inmates in county jails and a greater number of parolees being supervised locally due to a change in state law, according to a report to be reviewed Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.
The Department of Probation will present an overview of the initial effects of Assembly Bill 109, the Public Safety Realignment Act, which took effect Oct. 1 and has since proven to be a heavier burden on local resources than originally predicted, according to the report.
“Realignment represents the most significant change in the criminal justice system in more than 30 years,'' according to the report drafted under the direction of the Community Corrections Partnership Executive Committee, comprised of all the heads of county public safety agencies, as well as the Superior Court Executive Office...
LINK - MyDesert.com
February 27, 2012
California prisons face maximum security shortage
Last year, California began complying with a federal court to reduce its prison population by shifting thousands of low-level felons to county custody.
It’s called “realignment” and although it helped bring down the number of inmates in prison, it won’t solve another problem: Where to put the thousands of serious and violent inmates.
The number of inmates in state prisons has already dropped by 16,000 since realignment took effect in October. Corrections officials project that the diversion of low-level felons to counties will reduce the state prison population by 40,000 inmates within a few years. But California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation can’t shift serious felons to the counties...
LINK - SCPR.org
February 22, 2012
Prisons overflow, but not youth camps
Counting down from three, Probation Supervisor Chris Bussey pulled the fire alarm, causing a siren to blare throughout Camp Glenwood.
He and about two dozen other emergency officials hustled out to the quad to watch the commotion as a small cluster of their teenage wards streamed out of the camp dormitories and lined up to be shuttled off-site.
The La Honda honor camp, a rural setting where young offenders serve out their punishments, was holding its first-ever evacuation drill. The drill came at a particularly easy time for those in charge...
LINK - HMBReview.com
February 22, 2012
More hardened criminals now at Siskiyou County Jail
Sergeant Robert Goyeneche says the atmosphere at the Siskiyou County Jail is getting more criminally sophisticated, with politics more like what’s commonly seen in state prisons.
County officials say this is the biggest change they’ve seen since the state’s public safety realignment went into effect nearly four months ago.
Under realignment, parolees (now officially referred to as Post-Release Community Supervision participants, or PRCS) cannot be sent back to state prison unless they commit a new serious felony...
LINK - MTShastaNews.com
February 21, 2012
State realignment leads to shorter sentences
Offenders who violate the terms of their parole may be back on the streets faster as they serve out shortened sentences in county custody under California's prison realignment plan, which some feel will lead to an increased revolving-door scenario.
“Anyone who violates parole would be doing their time in county jail and it is at half time,” said Jodi Miller, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. “The maximum sentence would be 180 days, which is immediately cut in half.”
Previously, parole violators would receive a maximum sentence of 12 months with no option for early release...
LINK - VVDailyPress.com
February 21, 2012
Prison realignment: Big impact on local homeless
Convicted felons, once in state prison, then in county jail, are back out on the streets of Bakersfield because of overcrowding in our prison system. Most people know it as prison realignment.
The Sheriff's and Probation Departments have been impacted by the program which started last fall. But, realignment affects more than law enforcement. It's the reality of realignment.
State parolees are trading life behind bars for life in a homeless shelter. "The numbers are pretty remarkable. To understand how many or project who needs what, can be a very daunting task," said Jason Meek, Bakersfield Homeless Center...
LINK - KGET.com
February 21, 2012
More realignment news: offender arrested twice in one day?
A Redding man is back behind bars after being arrested twice in one day, for two separate crimes. Officers arrested Nolan Telles early yesterday morning for burglarizing a truck behind the Oxford Suites on Hilltop Drive. He was taken to jail and quickly released.
Police say Telles then stole a car from the parking lot of the YMCA on Court Street.
Officers pulled Telles over near Cypress Avenue and Bechelli Lane last night after spotting him driving the stolen car...
LINK - KHSLTV.com
February 20, 2012
Should prisons save money by releasing older inmates?
An inmate at the Mule Creek State Prison sits on his bunk bed in a gymnasium that was modified to house prisoners August 28, 2007 in Ione, California.
A panel of three federal judges is looking to put a cap on the California State Prison population after class action lawsuits were filed on behalf of inmates who complained of being forced to live in classrooms, gymnasiums and other non-traditional prison housing...
LINK - SCPR.org
February 19, 2012
Fresno County jail clashes blamed on realignment
Fresno County Jail inmate Jose Cuevas last week drove a pencil into the neck of cellmate Troy Phillips 22 times, according to Sheriff's Office reports.
While sheriff's officials still are searching for a motive in the attack, it's the latest in an uptick of jail violence that they say likely is tied to new responsibilities handed down by the state...
LINK - FresnoBee.com
February 19, 2012
Is county coping with prison shift?
In the midst of most government budgets continuing to be cut or stabilizing at best, there is one program growing here in Shasta County — a program for county residents convicted of low-level offenses.
This statewide effort reflects a fundamental shift from incarceration in state prisons to incarceration and rehabilitation at the county level. For Shasta County, the impact will be significant. The number of offenders is large. Equally challenging is the necessary change in attitude. For an area like ours where personal responsibility and limited government are strongly held beliefs, creating the appropriate service network and supervision for low-level offenders to build productive lives may, unfortunately, be of low priority...
LINK - Redding.com
February 17, 2012
Contra Costa feeling impact from state prison shift
More than four months after California transferred responsibility for low-level offenders to counties, law enforcement officials in Contra Costa County are seeing far more inmates than projected.
Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bills 109 and 117, which shifted the responsibility for monitoring, tracking and imprisoning low-level offenders previously bound for state prison to county jails.
The unprecedented move stemmed from an October 2010 U.S. Supreme Court order that deemed overcrowded conditions in California's 33 prisons unconstitutional...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
February 17, 2012
Martinez Jail Population Swells As A Result Of State Prison Transfer
More than four months after California transferred responsibility for low-level offenders to counties, law enforcement officials in Contra Costa County are seeing far more inmates than projected.
The county's main detention facility in Martinez has been the most heavily impacted since realignment took effect, Casten said. He said it is the only county jail able to accept "special needs" inmates -- those with gang affiliations or who require prescription medications for mental health issues...
LINK - Martinez.Patch.com
February 17, 2012
Valley’s jails out of room for some inmates (realignment problems)
After being released from Madera County jail, a man assaulted a Chowchilla police officer in a case that highlights the Central Valley's struggle to deal with prison reform.
When Jesus Sotelo, 34, was arrested earlier this month over interference with an officer from the Chowchilla Police Department, he was on parole in Merced.
Chowchilla police booked him at the Madera County Jail. But unlike in the past, when the parole violator would have been shipped back to state prison, Sotelo was released the next day...
LINK - MercedSunStar.com
February 15, 2012
High-Needs Kids and Juvenile Justice Reforms
As California and the nation continue to struggle with budget crises, creative and cost-effective approaches in the provision of services for high-needs youthful offender populations are becoming increasingly necessary.
Leaders in California, Georgia and New York have recently called for reform or “realignment” of their out-of-date state-run juvenile justice systems. While the urgency for reform in many states is a result of strained state budgets, it serves as an opportunity to engage juvenile justice stakeholders to restructure their juvenile justice systems in a more efficient and effective manner...
LINK - CaliforniaProgressReport.com
February 15, 2012
California privacy laws keep police from getting parolees’ names
The state of California has begun handing counties the responsibility of monitoring tens of thousands of parolees, but police chiefs don't know who they are.
State privacy laws prevent probation agents, who now handle the cases of most prisoners when they're released, from giving out the names to local police.
It is an oversight state lawmakers did not consider when they changed the structure of the parole system last year, police chiefs told The Desert Sun this week...
LINK - MyDesert.com
February 14, 2012
L.A. County explores inmate relocation to facilities in Kern County
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Nicole Nishida told 17 News on Tuesday that L.A. County is considering sending inmates to empty correctional facilities in Kern County.
Realignment of California prisons has placed added pressure on the county, forcing it to release some inmates early. Now, some local correctional facilities sit empty, waiting for someone to send inmates their way.
But, the inmates that do go there might be more likely to come from Los Angeles than somewhere in Kern County...
LINK - KGET.com
February 10, 2012
AB 109 Negotiations UPDATE
Over the last several months, CCPOA and the state have been in negotiations regarding the impact of the AB 109 Reductions. Due to AB 109, passed by the Legislature and the “Overcrowding Order” issued by the Supreme Court, the state sent out approximately 30,000 SROA letters informing staff that they were possibly subject to layoff. In an effort to mitigate the number of CCPOA employees actually laid off, CCPOA agreed to the first Wave of four Opportunities. Through this agreement relocation opportunities throughout the state, as well as additional OTAP and PICO positions for bid by seniority, were made available to staff effected by the layoff...
February 9, 2012
Update: Calif. budget crunchers hear youth-prison closure debate
Players in the fight to shut down — or keep open — the last of California’s state-run youth prisons are meeting this week where the action is: Gov. Jerry Brown’s Department of Finance, where the nitty-gritty of state budgeting gets done.
Struggling with the costs of incarceration generally, California could become the first state to wipe out is state juvenile jail division and the last of three prisons in a highly discredited system...
LINK - iWatchNews.org
February 2, 2012
another realignment parolee sought - this one for domestic violence, assault with a deadly weapon
The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office is considering 33 year old Joshua Lee of Montague to be “armed and dangerous” after he allegedly assaulted his wife and drove her towards Hawkinsville Tuesday night, Jan. 31, 2012.
She got away and was picked up on Hwy 263 by a passing “good samaritan,” who kept driving, dragging Lee along, after he lunged into the car through an open passenger window, according to a press release from Sheriff’s Office public information officer Allison Giannini...
LINK - MTShastaNews.com
February 2, 2012
Realignment presents challenges in housing, mental health treatment
After four months of California’s realignment program, jail overcrowding, homelessness and inadequate mental health reporting have overburdened local agencies now responsible for prisoners shifted from state to local institutions.
County parole agents and mental health workers have had to deal with a growing number of state prison returnees who have mental health issues, which county officials say were poorly described in their state prison information packets that preceded release...
LINK - PE.com (The Press-Enterprise)
February 1, 2012
Inmate Fire Crews Focus Of New Bill From Lake Elsinore Lawmaker
Lake Elsinore Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries introduced legislation Monday that would put in place one option for keeping inmate fire crews up and running.
The bill, AB 1562, was drafted to address anticipated cuts in the number of inmate fire crews available to Cal Fire as a result of a new law that shifts prisoners from state-run fire conservation camps into county jails, according to Jeff Greene, spokesman for the Assemblyman’s office.
The legislation gives counties an option over the current alternatives of hiring added fire personnel or losing the inmate firefighters altogether, Greene said....
LINK - LakeElsinore-Wildomar.Patch.com
February 1, 2012
California’s youth prisons nearing an end
In January 2011, Gov. Jerry Brown announced his plan to shut down all state youth prisons by 2014. If backed by the Legislature, the governor's proposal would have counties share $10 million to develop prudent local alternatives to state custodial facilities. By January 2013, the Division of Juvenile Justice will no longer accept any new admissions, and the entire system will gradually phase out in 2014.
There is significant opposition to this proposal from many youth advocates, probation chiefs, judges and district attorneys. Some are concerned that the counties do not have the programs and resources to manage the current DJJ population, that the youth facility closure will lead to more youth being sentenced to adult prisons and jails, and that there will be wide disparities in treatment and confinement conditions across the diverse counties of the Golden State...
LINK - SFGate.com
January 31, 2012
Deputies: Realignment parolee caught with stolen property
Deputies said they caught a man who was recently paroled because of realignment after he allegedly stole several items from a Shasta Lake home.
David Weston Allen Jones, 27, allegedly stole several miscellaneous items and clothing from a home on the 4100 block of Willamette Street at around 11 a.m. today, said Tom Short, a sergeant with the Shasta County Sheriff's Office...
LINK - Redding.com
January 30, 2012
State wavers on future of closed Paso Robles correctional facility
The governor’s decision to withhold more than $100 million to revamp the closed El Paso de Robles Youth Correctional Facility into a re-entry facility for state prisoners is not necessarily permanent, a state spokesman said Monday, but local officials want more clarity about what the state intends to do with the place long-term.
“I’m a little confused” about the state’s intentions, said Frank Mecham, county supervisor and former Paso Robles mayor. He said he hopes the governor doesn’t plan to “leave it as a big white elephant, gathering weeds and dust.”
Meanwhile Paso Robles City Councilman Fred Strong has disinterred an old idea: asking the state to sell the land to Paso Robles for $1, so that “we could repurpose it in any number of possible ways....”
LINK - SanLuisObispo.com
January 30, 2012
Hundreds Of Calif. Prison Employees Get Layoff Notices
California prison officials sent layoff notices to 545 employees, including 140 guards, as the inmate population declines to comply with a federal court order.
Corrections officials told KSBW on Friday that all 33 of California's prison institutions, including Salinas Valley State Prison and the correctional training facility near Soledad, will be impacted by the layoffs.
Layoffs will take effect Feb. 29, although some of those affected can transfer to other prisons that have vacancies...
LINK - KSBW.com
January 27, 2012
Juvenile Justice Cut Would be a Mistake
One of Governor Brown’s budget trigger cuts for California is the $72 million spent on the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ, formerly the California Youth Authority). The governor is proposing to shut down the state juvenile justice detention system and send the youth back to the counties for rehabilitation. On the surface, this seems like a good move—DJJ has a horrible reputation for punishing wards and providing little rehabilitative services.
Santa Clara County is well positioned to take back the14 youth they currently have in the state facility. Its two juvenile ranches are under capacity, and one could easily be converted to a higher-level program with additional funding. Other counties are less equipped to take people back. These counties do not have ranch programs and their juvenile halls are short-term holding facilities, not treatment programs. Also, many rural counties don’t have separate juvenile facilities and kids are held in a separate part of an adult jail—not a very good alternative...
LINK - SanJoseInside.com
January 27, 2012
Public Officials Talk About Public Safety Realignment
"If California took the resources made available for prison expansion or realignment, and invested them in re-entry services, affordable housing and jobs and all of the programs that are being cut ... that's going to have much more impact on public safety than building law enforcement.” Emily Harris, Statewide Coordinator for Californians United for a Responsible Budget Daily Breeze, Christina Villacorte, January 25, 2012
“We’re going to make some adjustments, and sometimes they will be some fairly large adjustments. With sufficient resources, I do believe counties can and do already perform some of these services.” Sacramento County Supervisor Don Nottoli Elk Grove Citizen, Brian M. Gold, January 25, 2012...
LINK - Turnto23.com
January 26, 2012
Sheriff releases inmates to avoid overcrowding
A recent surge in the population at county jails has prompted Sheriff Bill Gore to start shaving up to 10 percent off jail terms for some inmates to avoid overcrowding.
The number of men held in custody this month in San Diego County swelled to 96 percent of capacity. Most of the increase can be traced to a law Gov. Jerry Brown sought and the Legislature approved last year that allows some lower-level criminals to be sentenced to local jail instead of state prison.
Around Jan. 19, Gore authorized the release of about 260 inmates, most of whom were serving misdemeanor sentences or were nonviolent felons ordered to serve jail time as a condition of probation. The average number being released now is about 35 to 40 a day, he said...
LINK - UTSanDiego.com
January 25, 2012
Calif. Prisons Chief: Despite “Bumps,” There’s “Hope” in Realignment
Nearly four months into California’s shift of responsibility for low-level criminals from the state to counties, the state prisons chief says he’s “gratified” with how realignment is going so far.
Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate says realignment isn't perfect. He acknowledges hearing "anecdotes" about crimes that might not have happened without it. But he says realignment might prevent a lot of crimes too...
LINK - CapRadio.org
January 25, 2012
Solano’s First Sweep of Felons Under Gov’s New Prison Realignment Program
Three arrests off the top, during Solano County law enforcement officers' very first sweep of felons under the Governor's new prison realignment program.
"They are dangerous people that are coming out of prison, that are left with probation and law enforcement to deal with," said Lt. Brad Dewall, during one of the first arrests of the day.
"What we're doing is compliance checks to make sure that they are with terms and conditions of their release," Solano County Sheriff Gary Stanton said...
LINK - Fox40.com
January 25, 2012
More state prisoners may be moved to Rio Cosumnes jail
The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors chair said last week the county will continue to feel Gov. Jerry Brown’s ongoing push to help slash California’s deficit by shifting some of the state’s responsibilities to local governments.
In his State of the State speech, Brown said that last year California was facing “a structural deficit” of more than $20 billion.
“It was a real mess,” he said. “But you rose to the occasion and together we shrunk state government, reduced our borrowing costs, and transferred key functions to local government, closer to the people..."
LINK - EGCitizen.com
January 25, 2012
More parolees than expected entering Yolo County
While Yolo County officials have more figures concerning prison realignment, the full effects won't be known for at least several more months, if not years.
Chief Probation Officer Marjorie Rist presented the latest update on AB 109 to the Yolo County Board of Supervisors Tuesday. Prison realignment, which was implemented in October, transfers the state's responsibility for non-violent, non-sexual and non-serious inmates to county jurisdictions.
As of Dec. 11, Yolo County had 89 parolees on post-release community supervision, said Kevin O'Connell, a probation department data analyst. This is 16 more than expected...
LINK - DailyDemocrat.com
January 25, 2012
Four months in, some California judges want more say over state’s new sentencing rules
Some California Superior Court judges are calling for a major shift in Gov. Jerry Brown's 4-month-old realignment policy -- the power to keep track of certain nonviolent felons for a lot longer than the policy now calls for.
The judges say the change is necessary because it's nearly impossible to rehabilitate some offenders and discourage them from committing new crimes in the limited time the new realignment system allows...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
January 25, 2012
Fight brewing over historic California plan to close last three youth prisons
California, often a trendsetter, could make history if it approves Gov. Jerry Brown’s bid to close all state-run youth prisons and eliminate its state Division of Juvenile Justice.
Much depends, though, on whether the state’s politically influential prison guards, probation officers and district attorneys can be convinced — or forced by legislators — to agree to Brown’s proposal. That won’t be an easy sell, due to both public-safety arguments and sure-to-surface haggling over just who pays to house juvenile offenders...
LINK - iWatchNews.com
January 25, 2012
VSPW inmates opposed to prison conversion?
Inmates at Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW) have flooded the office of Madera County District 2 Supervisor David Rogers with letters expressing their concerns and fears over the state's plan to convert the prison to a men's facility.
"These concerns," Rogers said, "range from losing valuable rehabilitative programs and the potential of being housed near women who have threatened their safety."
Recent numbers show about 3,000 women are housed in VSPW, Rogers said, which is 150 percent of design capacity. At Central California Women's Facility (CCWF), the second women's prison located in Chowchilla, there are about 3,400 inmates, 180 percent of design capacity, Rogers said. The only other women's facility, California Institute for Women (CIW), houses almost 2,000 inmates and was designed for 1,200...
LINK - SacBee.com
January 25, 2012
Chowchilla gets temporary restraining order on state’s plan to convert female prison to male
The city of Chowchilla said it was granted a Stipulation and Order temporarily prohibiting the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) from proceeding with the conversion of a women’s prison to a men’s prison as a part of the state’s prison realignment plan.
On Jan. 6, a petition for a Writ of Mandate was filed for CDCR’s failure to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Later, the city said it learned that CDCR was moving forward with the conversion. On Jan. 24, the city filed a Temporary Restraining Order against CDCR...
LINK - MercedSunStar.com
January 23, 2012
Our View: Signs of progress in state prisons
Gov. Jerry Brown's realignment already is having a positive impact on the statewide prison system.
The population in these overcrowded prisons has dropped by 11,000 inmates -- to 133,000 -- in just six months. And the state is on track to get to 110,000 by June 2013.
That's a big change from 2006, when then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency. Overcrowding in the prisons, Schwarzenegger said, "causes harm to people and property, leads to inmate unrest and misconduct, reduces or eliminates programs, and increases recidivism as shown within this state and in others."
California's prison medical care system was so broken that a federal judge took the drastic step of taking it away from the state and placing it in federal receivership. The goal, declared the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, was to "reverse the entrenched paralysis and dysfunction and bring the delivery of health care in California prisons up to constitutional standards."
Well, California finally has turned a corner on that front, too...
LINK - MercedSunStar.com
January 23, 2012
Prisoners ride shift; inmates return to Shasta County under new state law
Randy Cates, a 38-year-old homeless man staying at the Good News Rescue Mission in Redding, has been in and out of prison before. But this time it's different.
Cates was among the first of Shasta County's recently released state prison inmates to return this fall under a contentious new law that transferred responsibility of some of those who once were called parolees to the county's probation department.
Cates, who has a lengthy history of drug-related crimes, is now assigned to probation's "post release community supervision" program. The state classifies him as a "nonserious" offender...
LINK - Redding.com
January 23, 2012
UPD officers ‘maxed-out’ with each handling 1,200 calls a year
Chief Dewey exploring ways to ease burden on his staff
The Ukiah Police Department "has maxed-out its officers' time" and is looking for ways to reduce their workload by enlisting interns, volunteers and expanding its Community Services Officer (CSO) program.
"I think we're doing a fantastic job handling the calls we have," said Public Safety Director Chris Dewey, addressing the Ukiah City Council Saturday during a special meeting to discuss ways to streamline city operations...
LINK - UkiahDailyJournal.com
January 20, 2012
Meet & Confer Notices: Week of January 20, 2012
Meet and Confer notices for the week of January 20th including: Emergency Revision of January 2012 Institution Activation Schedule and Issuance of February 2012 Institution Activation Schedule; Implementation of EO B-11-11 and Senate Bill 26 Supervisory; Access to Care Unit Post Redirections at Chuckwalla Valley State Prison; and AB 109 Position Elimination at CCC...
January 17, 2012
Judge to end Calif. prison receiver
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered California officials to prepare for the end of a six-year, court-ordered oversight of the prison system that has cost taxpayers billions of dollars and helped force a shift of lower-level criminals from state prisons to county jails.
U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson cited improving conditions in the prison system in a three-page order that says "the end of the Receivership appears to be in sight."
The ruling marks an important milestone in a process that began nearly six years ago when the judge appointed a receiver to run California's prison medical system after finding that an average of one inmate a week was dying of neglect or malpractice. He cited inmate overcrowding as the leading cause, but said in Tuesday's order that conditions have improved...
LINK - SacBee.com
January 16, 2012
Behind the Badge: Rise in burglaries a sign of prison realignment failing
My wife went to her exercise class last Monday but found the gym was closed for the day as they repaired the damage from a burglary during the night. An hour later she tried to take our van to the mechanic, but found he was not going to open for business because someone tunneled through a wall and burglarized his shop. A few days later a neighbor came up to my door and wanted to know what he could do about the guy who broke into four cars on the street near his house.
People want to know what's happening and who is responsible for the increase in theft-related crime. A couple of incidents over the past few weeks might help answer those questions...
LINK - LodiNews.com
January 15, 2012
Gov. Jerry Brown plans $1 billion in prison cuts
Gov. Jerry Brown wants to cut state prison spending next fiscal year for the first time in nearly a decade, a departure from the goals of recent administrations, which consistently increased corrections spending and pushed for prison expansion.
Brown's budget would save California $1.1 billion on housing inmates and hundreds of millions more by allowing the state to halt some prison construction - savings largely due to his administration's recent overhaul of the state's criminal justice system.
General fund spending on prisons nearly doubled under Brown's Republican predecessor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, from $5.2 billion in 2004 to $9.5 billion in 2011, when Brown, a Democrat, took office. The increase in spending was largely caused by an exploding inmate population and a court order to improve medical care in prisons...
LINK - SFGate.com
January 14, 2012
Prison realignment is the best way - says CDCR
The recent opinion piece by a psychologist at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi about California's program for reducing prison overcrowding was full of inaccuracies ("What has realignment of prisons wrought? More than state warned," Jan. 9). As a corrections professional, Brik McDill should know better. Some of his claims were unsubstantiated, and some describe problems not attributable to public safety realignment. The bottom line is that California is legally required to reduce prison overcrowding, and realignment is preferable by far to a large-scale release of inmates.
Here's how realignment works. Starting Oct. 1, many low-level offenders who would previously have gone to state prisons were sent to the counties. The prison inmate population has now fallen 11,000 and should fall an additional 23,000 over the next 18 months...
LINK - Bakersfield.com
January 11, 2012
Behind Governor’s Plan to Close State’s Juvenile Justice System
For the second time in one year, Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed permanently closing the Division of Juvenile Justice, a move that would make California the first state in the nation to eliminate its youth prison system and shift responsibility for the most dangerous young offenders to counties.
When Brown first proposed the plan, county prosecutors and probation officers protested, arguing that counties were unprepared to handle murderers and violent sex offenders. But last Thursday, Brown offered to give $10 million to help counties prepare for the new inmates. At the same time, he blocked $70 million in cuts to the DJJ...
LINK - BayCitizen.org
January 11, 2012
Crime renews lawmaker’s concerns about shifting felons to counties
A Republican lawmaker who opposes shifting supervision of many felons from the state to counties voiced concern Wednesday over the arrest of a Sacramento man this week on sexual assault charges a month after he was released from state prison.
Aaron Suggs had been designated a non-serious, nonviolent felon when he was released from state prison Dec. 8 after serving a sentence for drug possession. That designation resulted in his supervision, upon release, being assigned to the Sacramento County Probation Department rather than state parole agents under a program adopted by the state last year to cut its costs...
LINK - LATimes.com
January 11, 2012
Counties Struggle With New Probationers
County parole departments in California are in the third month of trying to integrate former prison inmates into county probation systems. Such inmates are classified as non-violent, non-serious, non-sex-offenders. So far, Sacramento County has processed 700 of them, including one man, Aaron Suggs, who was arrested this week for sexually assaulting a woman and robbing her in her home.
Suggs was released to Sacramento County Probation as a non-serious offender under the state's new "re-alignment" policy. He had been in prison for drugs.
Alan Seeber is with Sacramento County probation. He says the state's classification of some parolees is flawed...
LINK - CapRadio.org
January 10, 2012
Prisoner realignment and mental illness
A deeper look into prison realignment. County mental health and substance abuse programs now have to deal with a new breed of parolee released into our area.
More aggressive, and less predictable, and now the county is trying to meet the challenge.
Thanks to prison realignment our county mental health office is getting a lot of new patient...
LINK - KGET.com
January 9, 2012
Town Hall Meeting Set to Discuss Inmates Coming to the County
The plan to move inmates from overcrowded state prisons into county correctional situations is still a work in progress.
This Tuesday night, a countywide town hall meeting in Redwood City will address what's been done so far in San Mateo County, and request public input on where we should be going.
"Yes, it will be two-way discussion," says San Mateo County Chief Probation Officer Stuart Forrest. "Now that we have more specifics of expectations and assumptions surrounding this population, we've begun working on the local plan."
AB 109, signed by Governor Jerry Brown last year, pushed so-called "low-level" inmates out of state prisons, and into the hands of counties throughout California...
LINK - HalfMoonBay.Patch.com
January 9, 2012
Report: Jail expansion needed in Santa Clara County despite 1,000 empty beds
Even though more than 1,000 jail beds sit empty in Santa Clara County, a new report is calling for a $104 million jail expansion and overhaul that would require millions of dollars more each year to staff.
While any expansion defies logic at first glance, counties across California are lining up to revamp their jails as thousands of nonviolent inmates who would have been sent to state prison are locked up in jails under the state's massive new realignment plan to relieve prison overcrowding. And the competition for limited state funds is fierce, leading Santa Clara County to worry it might lose out to others whose lockups are jam-packed...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
January 8, 2012
Tehachapi prison psychologist on realignment problems
Well, golly, gee whiz -- AB 109 is still a newborn and here's what we have already found:
* That California counties north to south have received two to three times the number of realigned triple-nons -- nonserious, nonviolent, nonsexual felons -- and parolees estimated by California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. This at a time when city and county law enforcement and court budgets are being shrunk.
* That counties are suddenly recognizing that the health and mental health needs (and costs) of the CDCR transferees far exceed needs and costs estimated and funded for by the state...
LINK - Bakersfield.com
January 8, 2012
A risky shift in criminal justice
Not that many years ago, California legislators worked themselves into a law-and-order frenzy, and with voters' help, infused the justice system with steroids by approving the nation's toughest "three-strikes" sentencing measure.
How the pendulum has swung.
After unrelenting prison growth dating back decades, Gov. Jerry Brown proposed a budget last week that would slash $1.1 billion from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, paring its annual budget to $8.7 billion...
LINK - SacBee.com
January 8, 2012
State convicts arrive in L.A. County with costly mental illnesses
As California begins shifting supervision of thousands of newly released state prisoners to local probation agencies, ex-convicts are arriving with incomplete medical records and more serious mental illnesses than anticipated. And mental health officials are scrambling to provide appropriate — and often costly — treatment.
"At the start, every day ... there was a crisis," said Dr. Marvin Southard, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. "There was somebody we didn't know what to do with."
In some cases, he said, released inmates have had to be immediately transferred to hospitals or residential centers for psychiatric care...
LINK - LATimes.com
January 7, 2012
Early Release Possible For Inmates As Local Jails Fill
The state’s prison inmate population is shrinking, but the number of convicted criminals housed inside Riverside County jails is growing, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
“As of January 5, 2012, the Sheriff's Department's jails are housing 735 inmates who would have been sent to state prison for felony court convictions or violations of their state parole,” according to a Friday news release from the Sheriff’s Department.
Federal courts have forced California to reduce its inmate population as a way to better care for those incarcerated in what is the nation’s largest prison system. The state has been blasted by the courts for overcrowding and lack of inmate health care in its prison system...
LINK - LakeElsinore-Wildomar.Patch.com
January 6, 2012
Gov. Jerry Brown calls for a historic shuttering of the state’s notorious youth prison system
Following years of failed attempts to better serve juvenile offenders and the public's safety, California's once-sprawling youth corrections system may soon bow to a final, unprecedented strategy: shutting its locked gates for good.
Budget pressure in a system with annual costs of $200,000 per ward drove Gov. Jerry Brown this week to propose halting all new intakes at the Division Of Juvenile Justice. If approved by state legislators, beginning next year the state's three remaining prisons would then shrink themselves to oblivion, as current inmates complete their terms. Under the plan, county probation departments would assume the custody and treatment of all juvenile offenders -- an expansion from current practice where only the most serious and violent are housed by the state...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
January 6, 2012
City of Chowchilla to take legal action over VSPW conversion
The city of Chowchilla said Thursday it plans to file a legal challenge against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation about the state prison system's attempt to convert the Valley State Prison for Women into a men's prison.
"The Chowchilla City Council feels it is imperative to take necessary steps to protect our community and our rural way of life from the state's planned prison conversion," Mayor Janan Hebert said in a news release. "It's unfortunate that we have to file papers in court in order to keep our neighborhoods secure, but CDCR has left us with no other options."
At the heart of the controversy are fears that families of male inmates will relocate to the area at a higher rate than families of female inmates and overwhelm the city's limited public resources. Also, Madera County District Attorney Michael Keitz has voiced concerns that male prisoners would be more violent and thus require his office to prosecute more assault cases and the county to hire more sheriff's deputies...
LINK - MercedSunStar.com
January 6, 2012
Jails get a bit of relief as inmate influx slows after realignment
The wave of inmates arriving in Orange County jails as part of a wide-ranging overhaul of the state correctional system slowed in December, as local law-enforcement officials continued to adjust to increased responsibility for confining and monitoring convicts.
After two months of inmates arriving faster than expected in Orange County jails, the number of newly sentenced prisoners and those sent away for parole violations began to taper off last month, said Cmdr. Steve Kea of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
In an effort to ease crowding in the California prison system, state officials in October began requiring county law-enforcement agencies to house more nonviolent, non-sex-offender inmates in local jails...
LINK - OCRegister.com
January 5, 2012
Legislation targets CDCR Fire Camps / Inmates
State Sen. Doug LaMalfa has introduced a bill that would require state prison officials to notify local authorities 10 business days before an inmate is transferred into a state prison camp.
The Richvale Republican's bill, which goes before the Senate's Public Safety Committee on Tuesday, comes in response to a Record Searchlight investigation published this spring that found one in five inmates at the state's 41 fire camps have been convicted of violent crimes, including attacks on officers.
The investigation revealed escapes from the camp are common and have sometimes ended with violent consequences, including a fatal shooting of a San Francisco police officer in 2006 by an inmate who walked away from a camp in Humboldt County...
LINK - Redding.com
