Wiping out a portion of the state's lowest-paid firefighting force is one impact prison officials fear if the state releases thousands of inmates under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget proposal. The governor has suggested letting go 22,000 non-violent and low-level prison inmates with less than 20 months left on their sentence to help offset a state budget deficit…

The plan would place the released inmates under "summary" parole, which would mean they could only return to prison by committing a new felony and not for incidental probation violations. They would not be required to check in with probation officers nor would they be enrolled in the standard probation programs - job placement, counseling - under the proposal…

SAN BERNARDINO - Members of the City Council were disturbed last week when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested the early release of at least 22,000 state prisoners. The proposal is part of a list of budget cuts the governor has planned to make up for a $14 billion deficit. The announcement wasn't music to the ears of city officials. "The first thing that comes to my mind," said Councilman Dennis Baxter, "is the governor's actions are very troubling." Mayor Pat Morris expects the proposal will be met with protest from law-enforcement officials across the state…

Some were restrained and some were bombastic, but all were definitive: Letting prisoners out in the final 20 months of their term, even if they're low-risk, as the governor is proposing, is about the worst way imaginable to fix the state's $14 billion budget deficit…

As many as 33,000 California inmates could be freed early, after the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation recalculates their release dates based on recent court decisions, officials say. But a union that represents prison records clerks says a shortage of workers is stalling the state's recalculation. Service International Employees Union Local 1000 planned to sue the department Wednesday, alleging the delay could be costing taxpayers millions of dollars as well as depriving convicts of their rights…