Press release from the Humboldt
County Grand Jury:
The 2014-2015 Humboldt County
Grand Jury has issued a report entitled:
Transportation of Indigent
Detainees in Accordance with California Penal Code Section 686.5 states: “In
any case in which a person is arrested and released without trial or in which a
person is arrested, tried, and acquitted, if such person is indigent and is
released or acquitted at a place to which he has been transported by the
arresting agency and which is more than 25 airline miles from the place of his
arrest, the arresting agency shall, at his request, return or provide for
return of such person to the place of his arrest."
The Grand Jury discovered that
there are people arrested in the outlying areas of Humboldt County, brought to
The Humboldt County Correctional Facility who qualify for California Penal Code Section 686.5
mandated travel assistance, who are not being informed they have the legal
right to request such assistance. The Grand Jury also discovered that the
refusal to inform those that qualify for that travel assistance, is the
official practice of the Humboldt County Sheriff.
The Humboldt County Grand Jury
recommends that Humboldt County Correctional Facility Officers, as part of the
release process, inform those people, who qualify under California Penal Code
686.5, that they are eligible for transportation assistance back to the place
of their arrest and that they have the legal right to ask for such assistance.
Should you decide to publicly
comment upon the report of the grand jury, it would be appreciated if you would
include within your comment the fact that the full report may be viewed by the
public on the Humboldt County Grand Jury website:
www.humboldtgov.org/510/Grand-Jury.
The report: Transportation of
Indigent Detainees in Accordance with California Penal Code Section 686.5
By law, the Humboldt County
Grand Jury is required, annually, to visit and report on the conditions of all
correctional facilities within the confines of Humboldt County. While
fulfilling its mandated investigations of the Humboldt County Correctional
facility the Grand Jury became aware of possible violations of California Penal
Code Section 686.5.
The Grand Jury discovered that
there are people arrested in the outlying areas of Humboldt County, brought to
The Humboldt County Correctional Facility who qualify for California Penal Code
Section 686.5 mandated travel assistance, who are not being informed they have
the legal right to request such assistance. The Grand Jury also discovered that
the refusal to inform, those that qualify for that travel assistance, is the
official practice of the Humboldt County Sheriff.
The Humboldt County Grand Jury
recommends that Humboldt County Correctional Facility Officers, as part of the
release process, inform those people, who qualify under California Penal Code 686.5, that they are
eligible for transportation assistance back to the place of their arrest and
that they have the legal right to ask for such assistance.
The Humboldt County Sheriffs
Department serves a culturally diverse and geographically expansive county. The
Humboldt County Correctional Facility in Eureka, California serves as the
county’s only facility for the detention and incarceration of individuals
accused or convicted of crimes. Recent California State mandates (A.B. 109 and
Prop. 47) have only made that responsibility more difficult. The Humboldt
County Correctional Facility also serves as the county’s temporary holding
facility for the “drunk and disorderly”, with some detainees being transported
to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility for that purpose from as far away
as Garberville and Willow Creek.
Members of the Grand Jury
familiarized themselves with Penal Code Section 686.5.
Members of the Grand Jury
reviewed the 2013-2014 Grand Jury report and the Sheriff’s response to that
report.
Members of the Grand Jury met
with Humboldt County Correctional Facility officers to discuss policies
currently in place to inform those that qualify that they could ask for
transportation assistance back to the site of their arrest.
Members of the Grand Jury met
with the Sheriff to review existing transportation assistance policy and whether
the Humboldt County Correctional Facility was informing those, that qualified,
that they had the right to request said assistance.
Members of the Grand Jury
engaged in the aforementioned activities to ascertain the number of inmates
that are arrested more than “25 airline” miles from the Humboldt County
Correctional Facility and then transported
to that facility. The Grand Jury wanted to know how many inmates qualified for
transportation assistance, what information is provided to those inmates, upon
their release about their legal rights under California Penal Code 686.5 by
Humboldt County Correctional Officers. The Grand Jury also wanted to know what
the policies of the current Sheriff of Humboldt County were, regarding the
communication of that information, to the inmates upon their release.
California Penal Code Section
686.5 states: “In any case in which a person is arrested and released without
trial or in which a person is arrested, tried, and acquitted, if such person is
indigent and is released or acquitted at a place to which he has been
transported by the arresting agency and which is more than 25 airline miles
from the place of his arrest, the arresting agency shall, at his request,
return or provide for return of such person to the place of Humboldt County
Correctional Facility Officers do not, as of the date of this report, inform
those that qualify that they have the legal right to request transportation
assistance. The Humboldt County Sheriff further attests
that the Humboldt County Correctional Facility will not inform those that
qualify for that assistance since, in his opinion, Correctional Officers are
not legally mandated to do so. The Grand Jury found no evidence of any existing
policy regarding how to transport those detainees that were legally qualified
for transportation assistance, furthermore the Grand Jury found no evidence of
any qualified detainees asking for transportation assistance. The Grand Jury
cannot accurately conclude how many people qualify under the guidelines of
California Penal Code Section 686.5 for transportation assistance due to a
number of factors. The data provided by the Sheriff and Humboldt County
Correctional Officers are inconsistent as to the number of qualified
individuals transported to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility from
Garberville and the Willow Creek area. The actual determination of who, in
fact, qualifies under California Penal Code Section 686.5 is currently under
advisement. There may be disagreement about the numbers, but the fact that
there are people who qualify and that they are not being told that they qualify
is not open for disagreement.
The Grand Jury is appreciative
of the apparent difficulties in the implementation of any transportation
program that would adequately address California Penal Code Section 686.5.
The Grand Jury does however
disagree with the current policy of not informing those that qualify under
California Penal Code Section 686.5. Our own findings would conclude that the Sheriff’s
policies and the Humboldt County Correctional Officers actions are evading
their responsibilities to the qualified inmates and that it might not
technically be considered “breaking the law”, but that a “normal person” would
conclude that the Sheriff was not acting in good faith by evading the issue and
not informing those who qualify of their legal rights.
F1. There are people arrested in the outlying areas of Humboldt County,
brought to The Humboldt County Correctional Facility who qualify for California
Penal Code Section 686.5 mandated travel assistance, who are not being informed
they have the legal right to request such assistance.
F2. The refusal to inform those that qualify under California Penal
Code Section 686.5, that they have the legal right to ask for travel assistance
is currently the official policy of the Humboldt County Correctional Facility
under the direction of the Humboldt County Sheriff.
R1. The Humboldt County Grand Jury recommends that Humboldt County
Correctional Facility Officers, as part of the release process, inform those
people, who qualify under California Penal Code 686.5, that they are eligible
for transportation assistance back to the place of their arrest and that they
have the legal right to ask for such assistance. (F1, F2)
REQUEST FOR RESPONSES
Pursuant to Penal Code section
933.05, the grand jury requests responses as follows:
From the following individual: The
Humboldt County Sheriff is to respond to recommendation 1.
March
19, 2015
Eureka
Times-Standard
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