|
|
| Jail expansion: Counties seek millions from state |
| By sfgate.com - Marisa Lagos |
| Published: 10/24/2011 |
|
Sacramento -- - California counties are lining up to secure millions of dollars in state funds to expand jails now that Gov. Jerry Brown's plan is under way to shift the incarceration of some felons from prisons to jails. But while many county officials cheer the availability of $600 million in state funds to add more jail beds, opponents of prison expansion say building more incarceration space will discourage prosecutors, police and other public safety officials from seeking alternatives to lockups. "We're terrified that California ... is using realignment as a cover to push unnecessary and unneeded jail expansion projects," said Emily Harris, statewide coordinator for Californians United for a Responsible Budget, a coalition of more than 40 groups focused on limiting prison spending. "It eliminates the incentive for counties to do things differently." Brown's program, known as realignment, took effect Oct. 1 and is designed to ease prison overcrowding by sentencing thousands of nonviolent felons to county jails instead of state prisons. Reducing recidivism The law that created realignment also gave judges, prosecutors and probation officers more flexibility in deciding how to punish those criminals - a change touted by Democrats and other supporters of the plan as a way to encourage more effective and creative rehabilitation programs at the county level. Brown's plan counts on rehabilitation programs to reduce the state's dismal 67 percent recidivism rate - the percentage of parolees who return to prison within three years. Officials at the California State Sheriffs' Association, a key supporter of realignment, said they want to encourage that innovation but add that it will take time for counties to develop and implement alternatives to incarceration. Counties say Brown's plan means they will need more space to house the 25,000 felons expected to flow into their jails over the next four years. Sheriffs association lobbyist Nick Warner said 32 of the state's 58 counties are already under state or court-imposed population caps because of existing overcrowding, and jails currently used to house inmates for a maximum of one year are beginning to receive inmates who have 10- or even 20-year sentences. "The notion isn't to build our way out of this," he said. "A lot of counties don't just need more beds, they need better beds, different beds. ... The people that will now be in local jails will be there dramatically longer." The $600 million is available under AB900, a 2007 law that authorized $7.4 billion in bonds to expand lockups, including about $1.2 billion for local jail beds. Read More. |
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think