Blog note: this article, which
summarizes a statewide report, highlights jails in Tuolumne County and
references numerous grand jury reports calling for jail expansion.
A new report slams a number of California
counties for prioritizing jail expansion and construction projects over
alternatives to incarceration.
Californians United for a Responsible Budget,
a coalition against prison and jail expansion, released its annual
“decarceration” report card Thursday that gave several counties a failing
grade. Tuolumne County was listed as “in danger of failing” for seeking a
costly project to build a new jail.
“Counties are signing up for decades of debt,
and that just includes construction costs,” said Lizzie Buchen, state
coordinator for CURB. “That doesn’t include operating costs.”
According to the group, 23 of the state’s 58
counties are building new jails, five are building two or more jails and 32 are
applying for new state funds earmarked for jail construction.
Much of the construction has emerged since
the state Legislature passed Assembly Bill 109 in response to a 2010 court
ruling that overcrowding in California prisons had become unconstitutional.
The legislation aimed to reduce the number of
prisoners by lowering sentences for certain felonies, making county probation
departments responsible for supervising parolees deemed “non-violent,
non-sexual and non-serious,” and setting aside funds for counties to implement
programs as alternatives to incarceration.
Since the legislation — also known as the
2011 Public Safety Realignment — took effect, California has authorized $2.2
billion to finance construction of new county jails, the CURB report stated.
“What we found is that counties are failing
to take advantage of this opportunity in California,” Buchen said.
“Specifically, they are reinforcing their reliance on incarceration by
expanding old jails and building new ones.”
Tuolumne County has received $33 million from
the state to replace the old jail at 175 Yaney Avenue in Sonora, which was
constructed in 1961.
Another $11 million for the jail will be
funded by the county through a mix of one-time funds, internal borrowing and
outside loans, according to the county’s funding plan.
The new jail is intended to improve
conditions for inmates and employees, while expanding the number of beds from
147 to 216.
Long before AB 109 was passed, the
county’s jail was criticized in numerous Tuolumne County Grand Jury reports for
being too cramped and outdated.
“We had numerous jail needs, grand
jury reports and technical reports by a variety of specialty firms that deal
with corrections saying we needed a new jail,” said County Administrator Craig
Pedro.
Chief Probation Officer Adele Arnold is
scheduled to present a report to the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors at
Tuesday’s meeting that looks at the effectiveness of county programs funded by
AB 109 since 2011, including the day reporting center, work release and
electronic monitoring.
The day reporting center at 1194 Highway 49
in Sonora, operated by contractor BI Inc., provides an intensive supervision
and treatment program for offenders released from prison, or who would have
been sent to prison prior to AB 109.
According to the probation department’s
report, about 102 out of 224 people between January 2012 and June 2015
successfully completed the program. The overall 46 percent success rate is
nearly double that of other counties in Central California, including
Calaveras, Fresno, Kern, Madera and Merced.
The employment rate among those who
successfully went through the county’s day reporting center since 2012 was 33
percent, the report stated.
Meanwhile, the county’s electronic monitoring
program has seen a success rate of 86 percent out of 234 cases since July 2013.
The county’s work release program, used as an
alternative to jail, has seen more than 2,100 referrals since 2012, according
to the report. Probation officers oversee work-release crews that do projects
throughout the county, including groundskeeping, fire breaks and work for area
schools and nonprofits.
Buchen argued that the need for new jails
would be reduced if fewer people were incarcerated prior to sentencing, most of
whom are too poor to afford bail. She said the pretrial population in county
jails throughout the state represents two-thirds of the total inmates.
In June, 114 of the 147 inmates in Tuolumne
County Jail had yet to be sentenced. Out of the total population, 133 had been
arrested on felony charges.
The probation department’s report stated that
Tuolumne County Superior Court judges had released 138 defendants from jail on
their own recognize prior to trial between October 2014 and September 2015. In
the same period, 411 sentenced inmates were released early due to overcrowding.
October
16, 2015
The
Union Democrat
By Alex
MacLean
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