Realignment
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
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 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 15, 2012
2012-2013 LAO Report: Completing Juvenile Justice Realignment
Over the past 16 years, the Legislature has enacted various measures which realigned to counties a significant share of responsibility for managing juvenile offenders. Under current law, only juveniles adjudicated for a serious, violent, or sex offense can be sent to state facilities by the juvenile courts. As a result, 99 percent of juvenile offenders are housed or supervised by counties.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 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
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
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 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 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 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 13, 2012
Tulare County taking state to court over suspended payments for juvenile offender programs
Tulare County is taking the California State Controller to court to stop plans for the state to suspend payments totaling more than $890,000 to support juvenile offender programs here.
If the county loses the lawsuit, it may have to eliminate the jobs of up to 16 full-time probation correctional officers at the Tulare County Juvenile Detention Facility, north of Visalia.
In addition, the Tulare County Probation Department, which runs the facility, could lose the use of nearly a third its 150 beds to house youths charged with crimes or serving sentences for convictions...
LINK - VisaliaTimesDelta.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 10, 2012
Juvenile Justice Realignment in 2012
By Brian Heller de Leon
Policy and Government Outreach Coordinator, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
Selena Teji, J.D. Communications Specialist, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
“The purpose of this publication is to recommend a full juvenile justice realignment plan in the 2012-13 budget cycle. The Division of Juvenile Facilities (DJF) budget triggers implemented on January 1, 2012, highlight the unsustainable costs of maintaining a dual juvenile justice system in California.
DJF’s current recidivism rate of 80% and continued scrutiny under the Farrell lawsuit both demonstrate the limited success the state has at rehabilitating youthful offenders (CDCR, 2010, p.10).”
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
January 5, 2012
Editorial: Prison progress, at last
A decade after the state of California agreed to improve inmate health care in the state prison system, it is finally on track to fulfill that agreement.
This week, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced that it has met the first target set by federal courts to reduce the overall number of inmates.
At the end of 2011, the number of inmates in the state's 33 prisons -- including the two in Vacaville, the California Medical Facility and California State Prison, Solano -- was slightly under the 133,000 goal set by the court...
LINK - TheReporter.com
January 5, 2012
Donnelly Vows New Try at Prison Reform
Frustrated by what he sees as a partisan rejection of his plan to cut prison costs and overcrowding, Assemblyman Tim Donnelly is pledging to take up the fight again when the legislature reconvenes this month.
"I'm going to push a bill to deal with some of the unintended impacts of AB 109," Donnelly said in a phone interview Friday.
His comments refer to side effects of a bill passed last year in Sacramento in response to a federal court's 2009 ruling that, because of prison overcrowding, more than 40,000 convicted felons would have to be released within two years...
LINK - Mountain-News.com
January 4, 2012
County seeks input on realignment
After months of wrestling with public safety realignment, the county’s Probation Department is asking the public for its thoughts on how best to implement the state’s budget-balancing plan that shifted low-level state prisoners to local jails and parolees to local supervision.
Probation Chief Stuart Forrest and a mix of other stakeholders like judges and those in law enforcement, health and education have been meeting for months even before realignment officially began in October. They hoped to meet the switch head on with a smooth transition. Now, with the process a reality, the collective known as the Community Corrections Partnership is holding a town hall meeting prior to the final draft of the county’s own plan coming together in February...
LINK - SMDailyJournal.com
January 4, 2012
Will Chowchilla fight prison conversion?
Yesterday, officials from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation travelled to Chowchilla in the Central Valley to talk to locals about the pending conversion of Valley State Prison for Women into a men’s facility. Chowchilla, the closest town to two of the state’s three women’s prisons, has resisted the conversion, worried about the impact of bringing in thousands of male prisoners. CDCR, meanwhile, says that under realignment, the female prison population will drop so much that they won’t need all three women’s prisons. Joshua Emerson Smith covers Chowchilla as part of his job as a McClatchy Reporter with Merced Sun Star and Chowchilla News. Emerson Smith was at yesterday’s meeting and we checked in with him to find out what went down...
LINK - KALWNews.org
January 3, 2012
California Meets First Inmate Reduction Target
California has met the first target set by federal courts to reduce its inmate population as a way to improve health care in the nation's largest state prison system, prison officials said Tuesday.
Federal judges ordered the state to reduce the population by about 10,000 inmates by the end of 2011, to about 133,000 inmates, as a means to improve the care of mentally and physically ill inmates. The population in the 33 prisons for adults fell to 132,887 as of last week's court-imposed deadline.
"Based on that number, we have met the benchmark," said Jeffrey Callison, spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "It's gratifying to see that we have in fact made it..."
LINK - FoxNews.com
January 3, 2012
Calif. prison realignment may mean 1,500 less inmate firefighters
Areas at risk of wildfires and mudslides could have fewer crews to help out in 2013. The pool of inmate firefighters who pitch in during disasters is shrinking.
For thousands of state prisoners, fighting wildfires offers a chance to earn credit toward their sentence and the opportunity to do more than sit behind bars.
But next year, the program run by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and Cal Fire will have to rely on fewer inmates due to prison realignment efforts...
LINK - ABCLocal.go.com
January 3, 2012
Impact of shift at Chowchilla prison debated
Corrections officials tried to appease Chowchilla and Madera County leaders Tuesday during a special meeting to discuss the possible impact from the conversion of Valley State Prison for Women to a men's facility.
The meeting came less than a week before the filing deadline for legal challenges to a self-granted California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation exemption allowing the department to bypass an impact study of the conversion.
Local officials repeatedly have demanded that the state prison system do an impact analysis, accusing state prison officials of violating the California Environmental Quality Act...
LINK - MercedSunStar.com
January 3, 2012
Financial concerns with Chowchilla prison changes
State officials are moving ahead with their plan to convert the Valley State Prison for Women into a male prison to reduce overcrowding. There have been many concerns about the switch since the announcement was made last month and county leaders raised some of the financial issues at a meeting Tuesday morning.
State correction officials presented their conversion plan at a public meeting in the Madera County government center. "We won't be seeing the same number of female inmates coming into our institutions," said Dana Toyama, spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation...
LINK - ABCLocal.go.com
December 29, 2011
More California women inmates serving time at home
California’s prison population has dropped by more than 8,000 inmates since October, when the state began shifting low-level criminals from state prisons to county jails. The state's prisons are under a federal court order to cut the inmate population by another 25,000 inmates by mid-2013. One way to do it is to assign more female inmates to do their time outside of prison.
Jessica Carrillo says she hopes to get out a month early from Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla. The 19-year-old from Merced County got sent to state prison for 10 months after she violated parole on a juvenile offense of grand theft auto. Carrillo is confident that she meets the criteria for alternative custody. Her crime wasn’t a serious, violent or sexual offense and she’s the breadwinner for her family - or will be. Carrillo is eight months pregnant...
LINK - SCPR.org
December 29, 2011
Juvenile offender fire camp closing
A Camarillo camp where juvenile offenders have been trained to fight fires will close Friday, leaving only one similar camp open in California, authorities said Wednesday.
Youths who have been trained at the camp will be reassigned to a camp known as Pine Grove in Amador County in Northern California.
At its peak, the Camarillo camp, known as the S. Carraway Public Service and Fire Center, housed five fire crews, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire...
LINK - VCStar.com
December 29, 2011
CDCR defends realignment against critics
In Friday's editorial, "Realignment fails early test," a connection was made between the shooting death of a former California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) inmate during the commission of a home invasion and the 2011 public safety realignment.
Before realignment, offenders who had served their full sentence were released by CDCR with more than 95 percent returning to the county of their last legal residence while being supervised by state parole. Under realignment all offenders continue to serve their full sentence, but if their current commitment was for a nonserious, nonviolent, nonsexual offense, the offender now reports to the county's probation department for post-release community supervision...
LINK - OrovilleMR.com
December 28, 2011
First deadline arrives for CDCR to reduce prison inmate populations
The first deadline has arrived for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to begin reducing the inmate population at all of its thirty-three adult prisons in the state.
In May of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered California to reduce its prison population by 33,000 inmates. The prison realignment will be handled in six month intervals...
LINK - KSBY.com
December 27, 2011
California could lose 1,500 inmate firefighters
When Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature shifted responsibility for thousands of state prisoners to county jails, some authorities said it would mean more offenders on the streets breaking the law.
Few saw another possible peril: the loss of more than 1,500 inmate firefighters.
Since World War II, the state has relied on nonviolent offenders serving time for such crimes as burglary, drug possession and welfare fraud to help clear brush, cut fire lines and stop infernos from spreading...
LINK - LATimes.com
December 27, 2011
State Prisons Appear to Fall Short on Overcrowding Reduction Order
Today is the first benchmark date for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to reduce prison overcrowding as per a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. CDCR has until January 10 to prepare and provide a report on the progress of inmate population reduction for review by a three-judge court which initially issued the order.
Inmate populations in California’s 33 state-detention facilities should be reduced to 167 percent of the capacity they were designed to hold by December 27. The number should drop to 155 percent by June 27, 2012, to 147 percent one year from now, and to 137.5 percent of capacity by June 2013...
LINK - SanDiegoReader.com
December 26, 2011
Matthew Cate directs prison downsizing
The usual measures of bureaucratic success for a state government agency are bigger budgets, expanding influence and a higher profile for the person at the very top.
Matthew Cate, secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, lacks all but the last.
As 2012 begins, the 45-year-old former deputy attorney general finds himself steering the department's historic downsizing with a flat budget and a federal court looking over his shoulder...
LINK - SacBee.com
December 21, 2011
Prison Realignment Sparks Lively Debate
It’s no surprise that AB109, California’s new inmate transfer bill — or “realignment” — is a contentious issue. Therefore, it was a pleasant surprise when tempers remained relatively calm at a recent conference in Sacramento on this very topic, allowing for a constructive debate to take place between invited panelists and those in attendance.
Sponsored by Capitol Weekly, a California newspaper that focuses exclusively on state government and politics, the all-day event, dubbed “California Prisons: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” was all that and more. Held at Sacramento’s famed Crest Theater, the well-known challenges of California’s penal system was the topic du jour. Discussions circulated around realignment and its impact on overcrowding, services, prison reform, parole deficiencies and recidivism in four panels comprised of individuals with differing views. The well-attended conference also featured Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, Senator Loni Hancock, and Matt Cate, secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as guest speakers....
LINK - CorrectionalNews.com
December 21, 2011
County already feeling impact of inmate transfer
Plumas County’s public safety system is already feeling the effects of the state’s Assembly Bill 109 inmate realignment.
The number of prisoners and parolees in the county’s corrections system has been steadily rising since AB 109 went into effect Oct. 1.
Inmates considered to be “non-violent,” who were formerly sent to state prisons, are now the responsibility of the counties...
LINK - PlumasNews.com
December 19, 2011
Can county still lock up jail money?
Even without a formal invitation to apply for up to $100 million in state money, county officials still hope the plan for a new 576-bed jail in Redwood City can still quality for the construction funds if other counties drop out.
Circumstances haven’t changed since San Mateo County learned in late October it ranked low compared to other competing counties but could be different after next month’s deadline for complete applications, said Assistant Sheriff Trisha Sanchez.
If higher ranking counties don’t submit applications or further down the road aren’t ready with matching local funds or a site, San Mateo County might move closer to qualifying...
LINK - SMDailyJournal.com
December 19, 2011
California trigger cuts pose young inmate problem in Stanislaus County
The "worst of the worse" young criminals could return from state lockups to Stanislaus County under California's projected "trigger cuts," local authorities fear.
Jill Silva, the county's acting chief probation officer, said, "We're not equipped to take them back."
Keeping young inmates in the state's Division of Juvenile Justice could cost the county an extra $2.9 million per year, she said...
LINK - ModBee.com
December 19, 2011
California prison population drops by 8,000 since realignment
The number of inmates in California prisons has dropped by 8,000 since “realignment” took effect Oct. 1. Court papers state officials filed Thursday indicate the change. Officials reported the new numbers Thursday under a federal court order to reduce crowding in the prisons.
In its monthly status report to the court, officials said the state prison population dropped by 8,218 between Oct. 5 and Dec. 7.
California prison officials say the transfer of low-level felons to county officials that began in October will allow the state to meet a court-ordered reduction a month after a Dec. 27 deadline...
LINK - SCPR.org
December 17, 2011
Prisoner shifts leave murderers better off than nonviolent criminals
California's violent criminals and sex offenders might have much more comfortable stays behind bars than those convicted of less-serious crimes, though they are serving similarly long sentences ---- because of a new law aimed to relieve prison overcrowding and save the state money.
The disparity is a consequence of Gov. Jerry Brown's massive prison realignment, which sends nonviolent offenders to county jails instead of state prisons to serve their sentences. The law is an attempt to comply with a recent U.S. Supreme Court order to reduce the number of inmates at California prisons during a state budget crisis...
LINK - NCTimes.com
December 16, 2011
New fees may force Tulare, Kings counties to bring juvenile offenders home
Dozens of juvenile criminals from the Valley now in state custody will return home to finish their sentences because of state budget cuts, officials said.
Under mid-year cuts taking effect Jan. 1, California counties must pay the state $125,000 per year for each juvenile offender held by the state Division of Juvenile Justice.
At least two Valley counties -- Tulare and Kings -- say they can't afford that, so they'll seek to have their juvenile offenders serve their sentences locally, even though local facilities aren't set up for long-term incarceration and rehabilitation of younger criminals...
LINK - FresnoBee.com
December 16, 2011
Los Angeles Jail Plan Hits Resistance
Los Angeles County supervisors are balking at a proposal from the county sheriff’s department to issue $1.4 billion of bonds to rebuild the 5,000-bed Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles.
The sheriff’s department describes the jail project as a means to address California’s ongoing corrections “realignment” that is shifting 30,000 prisoners to county jails from the state prison system over the next two years, while also alleviating security issues at the Men’s Central Jail.
The facility has been the subject of allegations involving sheriff’s deputies beating prisoners over the past year...
LINK - BondBuyer.com
December 16, 2011
Inmate numbers up slightly in SLO, SB counties
Two months into a “realignment” program that diverts some state prisoners to local custody, San Luis Obispo County is seeing slightly more than the expected number of inmates.
Many prisoners convicted of nonviolent crimes began serving their sentences in county jails Oct. 1 as a result of the state’s ongoing multibillion dollar deficits and a U.S. Supreme Court decision requiring the state to lower its prison population by 30,000...
LINK - TimesPressRecorder.com
December 15, 2011
Probation reports on realignment; concerns raised for public safety
County supervisors this week received an update on the state’s correctional realignment and what it means for Lake County, with the county’s acting chief probation officer warning of serious health and safety implications for community residents.
On Tuesday, acting Chief Probation Officer Steve Buchholz gave a report to the Board of Supervisors on realignment, which includes supervising new probationers and housing in the county jail prisoners who formerly would have served their time in state prison.
The state’s correctional realignment, which went into effect Oct. 1, is meant to reduce the state’s prison overcrowding, as well as to save the cash-strapped state money...
LINK - LakeconNews.com
December 14, 2011
Trigger cuts: CA counties to pay state $125,000 to house juvenile offenders
Gov. Jerry Brown announced earlier this week the state has to pull the trigger on a series of mid-year budget cuts due to low tax revenues. One of those reductions shaves $67 million from the state’s juvenile justice budget. The cut will force counties to foot the bill for Juvenile Justice wards in state custody.
In the 1990s the state’s Division of Juvenile Justice oversaw 10,000 young offenders. Then, about a decade ago, state lawmakers restricted the types of offenders counties can send to state juvenile facilities to those convicted of violent and serious felonies and sex offenses.
The belief was that keeping youth closer to home would reduce their risk of becoming a repeat offender. The change shrunk the Division of Juvenile Justice population to 1,100...
LINK - SCPR.org
December 14, 2011
Inmates file class-action suit against Fresno due to jail overcrowding
Four Fresno County Jail inmates filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday, claiming Sheriff Margaret Mims maintains an unsafe jail and fails to provide basic health care.
According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Fresno, inmates are regularly denied treatment for life-threatening illnesses, severe mental health symptoms and serious dental conditions.
There are not enough medical personnel -- doctors, nurses, therapists and social workers -- to provide adequate care for more than 2,300 inmates, the lawsuit says. As a result of the understaffing, inmates can wait weeks to months before being examined by clinicians...
LINK - FresnoBee.com
December 12, 2011
Calaveras County Jail likely to fill
By this coming summer, most of the beds in the Calaveras County Jail will be occupied by inmates who would previously have been in state prisons, Calaveras County District Attorney Barbara Yook said last week.
Yook said she estimates that 40 of the jail's 65 beds will be occupied by offenders who would have served that time in prison before realignment - a process under which California is reducing its state prison population.
Yook made her remarks Friday in Angels Camp during a workshop on a variety of criminal justice issues for representatives of local media outlets....
LINK - Recordnet.com
December 11, 2011
Alameda County realignment plan “ambitious” but moving in the right direction
More than a hundred felons have filtered into Alameda County since Gov. Jerry Brown's controversial plan to shift inmates from state prisons to local jurisdictions kicked in on Oct. 1.
Of the 115 who had arrived as of Monday, two have reoffended.
One was for forgery and the other for car theft, Chief Probation Officer David Muhammad said. "Given the history of the population," he added, "it's not bad."
The challenge now will be keeping the others expected to come under county supervision out of jail and in their community...
LINK - MercuryNews.com
December 10, 2011
Butte County Jail crowded; prisoner realignment shifts 110 to county lockup
Staff has to determine who needs to be in custody and who can reasonably be put into alternative custody programs to prevent the jail from overcrowding, Undersheriff Kory Honea said.
"The primary concern for us is public safety," Honea said.
A law that took effect Oct. 1 shifts responsibility for thousands of lower-level criminals from the state to local jurisdictions. Judges no longer can send offenders to state prison for crimes such as auto theft, burglary, grand theft and drug possession for sale. Non-serious, non-violent, non-sexual felons, called "the nons," are instead sentenced to the county lockup. Parole violators who previously would have been returned to state prison now can only be incarcerated in county jails...
LINK - ChicoER.com
December 10, 2011
California’s county jails struggle to house influx of state prisoners
The early release of inmates in some parts of California is accelerating as officials at county jails struggle to accommodate state prisoners flowing into their facilities.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department planned to begin releasing about 150 inmates Friday because of overcrowding in county jails.
Sheriff Rod Hoops has decided to release the inmates, mostly parole violators or those convicted of nonviolent crimes, over the next five days. The inmates must have served at least half of their sentence, and have less than 30 days remaining on their sentence...
LINK - LATimes.com
December 9, 2011
CDCR Announces Plan to Convert Female Facility to House Low-Level Male Inmates
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) today announced the decision to convert Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW) in Chowchilla to a facility that will house low- to medium-security adult male inmates. The conversion will help alleviate the adult male inmate overcrowding problem and avoid staff layoffs at the institution.
The conversion will happen in phases and is anticipated to be completed by July 2013. The facility currently houses 3,171 female inmates. The level of male inmates and staff is expected to be similar once the conversion is complete...
LINK - CDCRToday.blogspot.com
December 9, 2011
High Desert AB 109 Agreement
Agreement between CDCR and CCPOA regarding High Desert State Prison (AB 109)...
December 9, 2011
County officials hope to offer health treatment, prevention information to early-release prisoners
The San Bernardino County Department of Public Health wants to connect with California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation prisoners immediately after their release to get a handle on cases of tuberculosis, HIV and hepatitis.
"We want to address treatment and prevent it from spreading and becoming a widespread community issue," said Trudy Raymundo, interim public health department director.
Health department officials hope to connect with prisoners released under the provisions of AB 109 at the three Day Reporting Centers to be established in Rancho Cucamonga, the High Desert and San Bernardino...
LINK - RedlandsDailyFacts.com
December 9, 2011
First group of released prisoners hit the streets
The early release of 150 San Bernardino County jail inmates due to the state's prisoner realignment law generated mixed reactions among law enforcement and educators.
But the county's sheriff said Friday that it's a necessity at a time of serious overcrowding in the wake of the new law.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department announced Thursday that it planned to release the inmates between Friday and Wednesday because the county's jail populations are nearing capacity...
LINK - SBSun.com
December 8, 2011
Early Jail Releases – More Serious Crime?
It’s becoming more difficult to keep accused criminals locked up.
It’s bad now, and may only get worse.
Fresno County is getting state inmates. The county was supposed to get 560 inmates in the first year of prison realignment. They got 600 in the first two months.
Some of those who are released early are committing more serious crimes.
39-year-old James Whitaker had been arrested for a series of burglaries. He was released after just a few hours in the Fresno County jail. Four days later, he allegedly held up a bank...
LINK - CBS47.tv
December 5, 2011
Inmate Shift To Cost Riverside County $968,000
Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach will ask the Board of Supervisors tomorrow to earmark $968,000 to cover D.A. office expenses incurred from "realignment," which shifted responsibility for a number of criminal justice activities from the state to counties.
The allotment would come from roughly $24 million in state funding to Riverside County agencies and courts in the current fiscal year to mitigate realignment-related costs.
The county's general fund would not be impacted...
LINK - KESQ.com
December 5, 2011
Calif. inmate shift could hurt firefighting crews
Moving California's lower-level criminals to counties could deprive the state of a third of its inmate firefighters unless agreements are reached with counties, officials said Monday.
During the next two to three years, the state could lose 1,500 of the nearly 4,500 inmates who work on firefighting crews, as less serious offenders serve their time in county lockups instead of state prisons, said Richard Subia, a deputy director with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
It's the first time officials have said how many inmate firefighters might be lost to the realignment....
LINK - ModBee.com
December 4, 2011
‘Depopulation’ Prison realignment bringing welcome changes to S.J.‘s DVI
Not long ago, Dorm X buzzed with the chatter of dozens of state prisoners who were in protective custody.
The large hall at Deuel Vocational Institution is now dotted with empty beds and rolled up mattresses.
The warehouse-like room - used for years to ease overcrowding - is no longer needed. It has become a quiet place, and its transformation marks the beginning of more changes to come...
LINK - Recordnet.com
December 3, 2011
Meeting to focus on inmate firefighters
Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore, Chair of the Rural Fire Protection Working Group, has called a meeting for Monday at the State Capitol to discuss the potential loss of inmate fire crews under the state's prison realignment program.
The state runs one such camp in Solano County near Suisun City.
"While much of the discussion surrounding the realignment program has dealt with the early release of criminals and new cost burdens to local governments, a less publicized problem is the impact that these early releases may have on our state's ability to fight wildfires," said Jeffries in a press release announcing Monday's meeting...
LINK - TheReporter.com
December 1, 2011
Public Safety Realignment and the Probation Department
The Public Safety Realignment Bill, known popularly as AB 109, was signed into law by Governor Brown on April 5, 2011. It represents the most sweeping changes to community corrections in a generation. Realignment focuses on several aspects of criminal sentencing, punishment, and community supervision. Certain offenders now are categorized as Post Release Community Supervision (PRCS), those convicted for various non-serious, non-violent, non-sex related offenses. Rather than being committed to state prison as in the past, they now serve their sentences in local jails. The legislation also transferred the responsibility for supervising these offenders upon their release to local county jurisdiction- county probation departments rather than state parole. Provisions of this bill took effect on October 1, 2011. Other key components include a mandate that offenders be released to the counties where they lived when the crime was committed; and one that prevents them from being sent to prison for violation of their terms of supervision. Realignment also requires probation departments to utilize programs that have proven records of success for the treatment and rehabilitation of these offenders.
Realignment mandates that probation departments perform the job of supervising these PRCS offenders similar to those already placed on probation. With AB 109, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is required to classify offenders only by the present committed offense. In other words, a person with a history of violence or serious crime, but has a less serious current conviction, qualifies for local incarceration and probation supervision pursuant to AB 109...
LINK - BlackVoiceNews.com
November 30, 2011
Inmate shift quickly filling some California jails
Two months into California's most far-reaching public safety realignment in decades, some counties are seeing a higher-than-expected influx of inmates who could crowd jails to the breaking point much earlier than expected.
State corrections officials say it is too soon to panic and expect the numbers to even out after an initial surge.
But reality is settling in as local law enforcement agencies struggle to contain criminals with a history of violence, substance abuse and mental illness who previously would have been tucked away in state prisons...
LINK - SFGate.com
November 30, 2011
Realignment sentences give long jail terms to inmates
Inland officials are facing lengthy consequences from the state’s new law to house nonviolent convicts in county jail instead of state prison.
The realignment law, AB109, which took effect Oct. 1, was presented as capping county jail sentences at three years. That isn’t happening.
As an example, on Tuesday a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge sentenced Dr. Conrad Murray to four years in county jail on his involuntary manslaughter conviction in the death of Michael Jackson...
LINK - PE.com
November 30, 2011
Opinion: Is realignment an opportunity? If so, let’s not waste it on building costly jail beds
November 17th's "California's Prison System - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly” conference, organized by Capitol Weekly and the University of California, brought together experts, advocates, and law enforcement and highlighted the devastating impacts of the expansion of California's prison system and consequent shift in state spending on education and social services. Conversations at the conference brought into sharper focus why California can't risk falling into the familiar pattern of failed corrections policies as it realigns public safety.
It has been seven months since the Supreme Court ordered California to drastically reduce the state's prison population. Beginning Oct. 1, responsibility for low-level prisoners was transferred from state prisons to counties. While politicians and undits called the move unprecedented, many counties drafted ill-conceived plans that simply shift overcrowding from the state level prisons to already crowded county jails...
LINK - CapitolWeekly.net
November 30, 2011
Riverside County accepts 735 parolees from state prisons
Riverside County has taken over control of 735 parolees since a state law went into effect Oct. 1 and shifted oversight of most felons to local counties.
It expects an additional 477 by April, Chief Probation Officer Alan Crogan said today.
He spoke during part of a town hall forum hosted by Assemblyman Brian Nestande and State Senator Bill Emmerson. It began at 3:30 p.m. in the Palm Desert City Council chambers...
LINK - MyDesert.com (The Desert Sun)
November 29, 2011
Alameda County finalizes prison realignment plan details
Alameda County has finalized details for dealing with hundreds of felons the probation department will inherit from the state as a result of the controversial realignment program that kicked in Oct. 1.
The plan approved by Alameda County supervisors Nov. 22 also provides details for how to divide the $9.2 million the state provided to help pay for supervising 848 felons expected to be incorporated into the county system over the next three years. They are inmates who have been released from state prison to community supervision, those who previously would have been sent to state prison for nonviolent felonies and parole violators...
LINK - ContraCostaTimes.com
November 29, 2011
First Adult Pre-Trial Facility pods opened
AB 109 is presenting a unique set of challenges in 58 different ways, as officials in each of the state's 58 counties are quickly finding out.
In Tulare County, the transition spurred by AB 109 appears to be going fairly smoothly. According to Tulare County sheriff's Capt. Robin Skiles, who heads the jails division, a 37-bed pod at the Adult Pre-Trial Facility was recently opened to accommodate the county's growing male inmate population, while a 48-bed pod has been activated to handle the expanding number of female inmates.
New staffing hires for each of the reopened pods came from AB 109 funds provided by the state, said Skiles...
LINK - ValleyVoiceNewspaper.com
November 26, 2011
State ends contract with Desert View (private) prison in Adelanto, CA
The state has canceled its contract with the privately operated Desert View Modified Community Correctional Facility, putting about 150 workers out of a job.
Desert View's contract termination officially takes effect Wednesday, though prison employees told the Daily Press that The Geo Group Inc. has been preparing to deactivate the prison at Rancho and Aster roads since May.
The 643-bed medium-security prison is shuttering its doors as part of California’s realignment plan, which responds to federal orders to reduce state prison overcrowding by shifting responsibility for tens of thousands of low-level offenders to county governments...
LINK - VVDailyPress.com
November 25, 2011
No room in Fresno Co. Jail for parole violators
In another sign that Fresno County is struggling to manage more criminals, the sheriff has ordered that state parole violators no longer will be held at the county jail.
The parolees, who were once sent to state prison if they got into trouble, are now sent to local jails instead – part of the state's recent realignment of the penal system. But in Fresno County, where the jail already is crowded, the Sheriff's Office has determined there's no room for the former convicts.
State parole officials, acknowledging counties are being asked to do more under the realignment, say they'll try to find other ways to deal with problem parolees...
LINK - FresnoBee.com
November 23, 2011
Opinion: Realignment is a dangerous, reckless mess
Last week, Capitol Weekly sponsored a panel discussion on the governor’s public safety realignment. The more discussion and scrutiny that can be focused on this ill-conceived policy the better. And, for the sake of every Californian, I hope that the close attention given to the real consequences of this dangerous plan will hasten its early repeal and a concerted effort to design a new justice and public safety based plan.
As a public official, I believe it is my responsibility to advocate for the best policies for the people of California. As Vice Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, I know firsthand that there are always tough choices when it comes to making budget decisions during state budget negotiations, which are often the result of bipartisan compromise...
LINK - CapitolWeekly.net
November 15, 2011
State plan to revamp correctional system nets more inmates at local facilities than orig thought
Twice as many inmates as projected arrived at Orange County jails during the first month of an ambitious overhaul of the state's correctional system that has county governments taking on new responsibilities for confining and monitoring convicts.
The boost raises concerns that empty bed space could be quickly filled and valuable contracts with federal officials placed in jeopardy.
Faced with a court mandate to ease crowding in the California prison system, state officials instituted a plan — "inmate realignment" — calling for county law-enforcement agencies to house more nonviolent, non-sex-offender inmates in local jails...
LINK - CorrectionsOne.com
November 15, 2011
L.A. County jails may be out of room next month
Los Angeles County's jails could run out of space as early as next month because of an influx of state prisoners, prompting officials to consider releasing potentially thousands of inmates awaiting trial.
The state's new prison law, which establishes a practice known as realignment, is expected to send as many as 8,000 offenders who would normally go to state prisons into the L.A. County Jail system in the next year.
Currently, defendants awaiting trial account for 70% of the jail population, but Sheriff Lee Baca said that might need to drop to 50%. The department is studying a major expansion of its electronic monitoring and home detention programs to keep track of inmates who are released...
LINK - LATimes.com
November 14, 2011
First month of prison realignment program has been problematic
The first month of Gov. Jerry Brown's prison realignment plan has been problematic in Los Angeles County, where understaffing forced probation officers to double their caseloads and sheriff's deputies were not given authority to arrest no-show parolees until just a few days ago.
The county also had to scramble for information about incoming parolees because the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation was slow releasing inmate details...
LINK - DailyBreeze.com
