County jails are bracing for a wave of low-level offender
inmates later this year, with the state floating a plan to move
them from state to local facilities as part of fixing a $26 billion
deficit.
County jails are bracing for a wave of low-level offender inmates later this year, with the state floating a plan to move them from state to local facilities as part of fixing a $26 billion deficit.
Though the governor’s 2011-12 budget proposal doesn’t include a specific number of how many such offenders could be moved from state prisons to local detention, it notes low-level offenders constitute almost half the state prison population on any given day. California had about 168,000 prisoners as of the end of 2009.
Those prisoners without serious, violent or sex offenses are considered low-level, and their numbers have skyrocketed since the state passed three-strikes laws for felons in the 1990s. As a result, the budget proposal noted, state prisons are housing some inmates in gyms and other areas not intended for such use.
Look for a story with local reaction. For a story from 2007 on the jail being near capacity, go here.
