The current jail is only rated to house 880 inmates, but that number has been stretched between 1,300 and 1,500 inmates total, at times. This has caused some concern that the new jail will reach capacity quickly. Mayor Dwight C. Jones has promised, however, that the new facility is not going to be “a bigger jail to warehouse more prisoners.” He hopes to move the city forward in different alternatives to incarceration, such as ankle monitors.

Council Vice President Ellen F. Robertson is supportive of these types of actions and asked that the public hold the city leaders accountable for these types of changes.

Robertson said, “I’m glad that today, by choice, we are saying no more than 1,032 in the city of Richmond. By choice today we are making a decision to end the mass incarceration.” She has also been critical of the governor’s public-safety agenda, which calls for stricter punishments for repeat drug offenders instead of using funds to help drug users and prevent the drugs from entering the state and cities in the first place.

With the harsh conditions of the old jail, Sheriff C.T. Woody Jr. called the construction of the new jail a “historic moment.”

The total cost of the proposed project in Tuolumne County Jail is estimated at $48 million. The other counties that applied for the small county category of funding are Kings, Shasta, Sutter, Madera, Imperial, San Benito and Siskiyou.

There is only $102 million available from the state for county corrections projects and the eight counties requested a total of $188 million. The criteria for receiving money is based on how many inmates the counties sent to State prisons in 2010. If Tuolumne is to receive any money, other counties will have to drop their requests.

CAO Craig Pedro is not optimistic about the county’s chances of being granted money this cycle. The state board is going to review each application in March before making its final decision on where to settle the money. Pedro said, “If we don’t receive grant funding this cycle, I can’t imagine proceeding at this time. That will be a decision for another day.”

Due to the new California realignment plan, counties all across the state are taking a closer look at their jail facilities. Many of them, like Los Angeles County, are already facing severe overcrowding in the jails. While Santa Clara County does not have an overwhelming influx of inmates, they have other issues.

Jails in Santa Clara are not built to hold inmates for extended periods of time. Cells may have wooden doors instead of metal and walls are Sheetrock instead of cinder block. Inmates have to spend 23 hours a day in small cells because of the lack of rehabilitation programs and secure workout areas. This goes against the whole purpose of realignment: rehabilitating inmates instead of only incarcerating them.

Along with the cost of the expansion, it will cost the county an additional $14 million annually in order to run the facility. This includes the hiring of an additional 119 deputies and jail staff.

Santa Clara County is number six in the line of counties seeking state funding for jail expansions. The state only has $300 million to go around for the larger counties. Eight counties are seeking $100 million from California to build with. The majority of funds will likely be given to counties with overcrowded jail facilities.

The primary mission of the Conservation Camp program is to provide agencies with an able-bodied, trained work force for fire suppression and other emergencies such as floods and earthquakes.

According to statistics provided by the CA Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, in an average year, Conservation Camp Program inmates provide approximately three million person hours in firefighting and other emergencies and save California taxpayers more than $80 million annually, on average.

The challenge lies in that many county jails, such as Los Angeles jails and San Diego jails, are releasing these low-level offenders early due to overcrowding. Some lawmakers are now questioning if there will be enough eligible inmates to volunteer for these types of positions.

The state has been utilizing these types of inmates to help fight wildfires since World War II.  In a Dec. 24 article by the LA Times, it was pointed out that prisoners who “exhibit ideal behavior in custody” could be “as much as half the manpower assigned to a large fire”. After 2013, inmate fire crews could be reduced by as much as 40%.

Some Sheriff’s have suggested that these types of inmates could be released and monitored with GPS ankle bracelets, but some question whether they’d come back to volunteer to serve on fire crews if they’re not still in custody.

Lawmakers, law enforcement and fire officials have said they will continue to work toward a solution. For now, however, the dollars-and-cents of dwindling budgets and lack of bed-space due to overcrowding still need to be worked out.

#10 Santa Maria Jail And Gang Unit Faces Cuts

The Santa Maria jail and the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s gang unit received notification that they were in jeopardy of being shut down as a means of helping to bridge the county’s $72 million budget gap. Sheriff’s deputies did not take the proposal lightly, although they acknowledged the need for budget cuts.  Officials estimated that closing the jail could save $1.2 million annually.

#9 LAPD Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) Opens

Although many were excited about the February opening of the $84 million downtown Los Angeles facility, others pointed to concerns that the jail would take 83 officers off the street to help operate it. Once opened, the Metro Center Jail replaced the antiquated, 50 year-old Parker Center Jail.

#8 Plea Deal And No Jail Time For Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson made a plea deal with prosecutors this year which meant he did not need to face jail time for his 2010 domestic violence charges. As part of the deal Gibson pled guilty to misdemeanor battery charges for an altercation involving his ex-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva. He was, however, ordered to undergo counseling as part of that agreement.

#7 Merced Sheriff Proposes Closing Main Jail

In May of 2011, Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin suggested the closure of the main jail as a means of helping to close the county’s $20 million budget deficit.  He further proposed the early release of 150-200 inmates and the elimination of 20 correctional officers.  The closure, he said would trim $8 million from the sheriff’s $40 million budget.

#6  San Francisco County Jail Will No Longer Hold ICE Inmates

Starting June 1, the San Francisco County Jail implemented a policy which exempted it from detaining illegal immigrants who had been arrested for petty crimes. This was the first time in the history of California that this type of policy was enacted.  Law enforcement officials said that the county was not obligated to assist the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unless a felony crime had been committed.

#5 Costa Mesa Considers Outsourcing for Jail

Law enforcement officials in Costa Mesa joined others from throughout the state in searching for creative solutions to help bridge budget gaps. Part of that solution involved putting out a request for proposal (RFP) to seek a private firm take over jail operations. A bid from the firm G4S to run the Costa Mesa Jail came with an approximate annual cost of $614,000. Proponents of the plan pointed out that this was a marked reduction from the $1.3 million it cost to run the facility under the city’s police department.

#4 California Jails Ordered To Reduce Prison Population

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that California needed to reduce its prisoner population by 30,000.  CA Gov. Jerry Brown then proposed “realigning” prisons as a means of compliance.  Instead of low-level, non-violent non-sexual offenders serving out their sentences in state facilities, Brown proposed they be transferred to county facilities instead. The realignment concept sparked concern from sheriff’s departments throughout the state, including the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.

#3 Alleged Beating at Twin Towers Spawns Internal Investigation

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department found itself under the microscope for most of 2011 after allegations that two Sheriff’s Deputies beat a Twin Towers Jail inmate unconscious.  The Jan. 24 log of the incident said the “inmate was punching the deputies until they had no other choice but to tase him”.   The American Civil Liberties Union said that charges like this are not uncommon but are hard to prove because the inmate-witnesses to the alleged crimes are not considered to be credible.

#2 LA County Board Of Supervisors: Jails Need More Oversight

After months of internal investigations the LA County Board of Supervisors agreed with suggestions that county jails needed more oversight.  As of Oct. 20, two plans were being considered.  The first proposed the instillation of surveillance cameras, eliminating the use of heavy flashlights and steel-toed shoes, and the implementation of a ban that would prohibit deputies from striking inmates on the head.  Plan number two would establish an independent review commission that would look into complaints. The supervisors hoped this would help restore public confidence in the Los Angeles County Jail system.

#1  California County Jails Fast Approaching Capacity Under Realignment

With the overwhelming number of inmates being transferred from state to county facilities to serve out their sentences, county law enforcement officials from throughout the state said they were quickly running out of room. It was said that Los Angeles County Jails could reach capacity by the end of 2011. As of November, the Riverside County Jail was at 93% capacity. Both the Orange County Sherriff’s Department and the Kern County Sheriff’s Department said they had received far more inmates in the first 30 days of the program than initially expected.

The FBI has already been looking into allegations of misconduct by sheriff’s deputies within the Los Angeles County jail. There have been multiple reports of abuse and violence. There was even one instance of a rookie deputy resigning after his supervisor allegedly told him to beat an inmate who was mentally ill. Nearly 30 deputies have been disciplined for covering up abuse or beating inmates in the last two years.

The new commission has limited power. It cannot force Sheriff Baca to make changes or subpoena documents. Since Sheriff Baca is an elected official, the only way to get him out of office is through a vote by residents. It can, however, raise public awareness about the issues and put pressure on the Board of Supervisors and the sheriff to make changes.

Members of the new commission include a pastor, four retired judges, a jail safety expert and a police chief.

The members will look into whether the Sheriff’s Department is properly monitoring the deputies. A department database is in place that is supposed to alert supervisors early on when a deputy is repeatedly accused of using excessive force with inmates.

It will also be decided whether rookie deputies are getting the proper training needed and supervision that will keep them from using force as their initial response during an incident. A rookie’s first assignment in the Department is to serve as a guard in the county jails.

Though the new commission cannot force a change in the jail system, its investigations can add more pressure on the Sheriff to take better actions to improve the system.

Her son, Keith Doolin, was arrested and charged with the 1995 killing of two prostitutes and the attempted murder of four more.  He was 22 years-old at the time of his conviction and was eventually transferred from the Fresno County Jail to the San Quentin State Prison.

Keith has spent the past 17 years of his life awaiting state execution for a crime he says he did not commit.

DNA and ballistics testing have been requested since 1998.  Donna said that “after 17 years of wrangling with the courts, that DNA testing was finally done” and the findings clearly showed that it was not Keith’s.   The results of the ballistics testing also supported Keith’s claims of innocence.

She said that although they do not yet know when he will be released from Death Row, that the family is hopeful it will be soon.

Donna has long claimed that the “flat fee” charged by Keith’s original defense attorney Rofolfo Petilla was unfair in that Petilla spent less than $9,000 in ancillary costs and was allowed to pocket the rest.  The Metropolitan News Enterprise previously reported that she said there was a “built in incentive for [him] to spend as little as possible on the defense so he could spend more money”.

Compared to other competing counties, San Mateo was considered low in the priority for state funding. The county was ranked ninth in the large county population category, falling behind the counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, Orange, Kern, Sacramento, Santa Clara and Fresno.

The main deciding factor in the ranking of the counties was how many inmates each county sends to state corrections centers each year. For Los Angeles County, that number is near 19,000 inmates. In San Bernardino, approximately 5,800 inmates are transferred to state facilities. San Mateo County only sends about 560 inmates annually.

County officials are hopeful that, if one of the other counties drops out of contention, San Mateo County will have a good chance of securing funding. The site for the new jail has already been purchased and planning is currently underway. The estimated total building cost for the new facility is $165 million. State money could cover more than half of that amount, reducing the amount of debt San Mateo County will face.

Regardless of whether or not San Mateo receives state funds, the plans to build a new jail will move forward. Overcrowding has continued to plague the San Mateo County corrections system, with the Maguire Correctional Facility averaging over 1,000 inmates when it is only rated to house 688.

County officials will continue to monitor the situation of applying for state funding in order to be prepared should the opportunity arise for them to pounce.

Our Inside California Jails Series…
The LA County Board of Supervisors has been asked to approve a proposal which would allocate $1,4 billion to renovate two LA County jails.   The improvements outlined in the plan would include the modernization of the downtown Men’s Central Jail as well as the addition of 400 bets to Pitchess Detention Center.

Proponents of the plan say that spending the money now would equate to long-term cost savings to the county.  Opponents, however, point to the weak economy and question whether taking on such a marked expense is prudent at the current time.

Greg Rynerson Bail Bonds continues with our twelfth series in our California Jails: Inside the Los Angeles County Jails.

Here, we’ll fill you in on:

• How California’s Prison Realignment Plan Could Impact The Decision.
• Pros And Cons Being Weighed On Both Sides Of The Issue.
• Discussions As To Whether The Public Should Be Given The Opportunity To Put The Matter Up To A Vote.

Is there a jail you’d like to learn more about ? Let us know- we’ll get you “inside” (or, if you need, we’ll get you out!).

The Mercury News has reported that state corrections officials are saying that although they are receiving more prisoners than initially expected that it’s still too soon to panic.

Los Angeles and Riverside County jails initially believed they could reach capacity by the close of 2011.  Spokespeople from both counties have since delayed the timeline.  Still, LA County Sheriffs officials are considering releasing less-serious offenders early with the stipulation that they continue to be monitored with GPS-ankle bracelets.

Orange County Jail officials have said that “more than 60 detainees had to sleep on the jail floor until beds could be made available”.    Fresno County Jail has recently said they will no longer detain parole violators for minor infractions. Those who have been caught committing new crimes could be readmitted.

Reportedly judges are no longer permitted to send persons who commit auto theft, grand theft, drug possession with the intent to distribute or burglary to state facilities.

Proponents of the realignment say this will force law enforcement officials to place greater emphasis on reducing recidivism rates as well as stress the need for prisoner rehabilitation. At current, 70% of paroled inmates commit new crimes.

Others believe that under the realignment, the need to reduce inmates early could potentially increase crime in urban areas.  Concerns about pre-trial witness tampering are also beginning to abound.

Regardless, county lawmakers will need to lobby Sacramento for additional funding should the trend continue. Although approximately $400 million has already been distributed to the state’s 58 counties to help offset costs, counties say additional funds will be needed.