Keep Bailing

Santa Clara County jail has over 1,000 empty inmate beds but officials are still hoping to receive state funds for an overhaul and expansion of the jail system. The estimated cost of the expansion is $104 million, not including the millions in operating costs each year.

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 Read more »

Santa Clara County residents are being given a gift from law enforcement officials for those who could be spending time in jail, especially during the holidays.

With the holiday spirit upon us, residents who have traffic warrants or any misdemeanors with no violent charges, can go into the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department and walk out with a new citation. The new citation will have a new scheduled court date and will allow you to bypass being arrested and processed into the county jail.

According to the Santa Clara Sheriff’s office, “Operation Second Chance 2010” is for any Read more »

Captain Melvin Riley, 83, who worked for the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department and spent nearly thirty years in law enforcement before retiring in 1978, died last Wednesday after a long illness.  Family, friends and colleagues held a memorial service in his honor at the Foothill Presbyterian Church in San Jose.

Captain Riley was a local hero who demonstrated time and again how much he cared for those who were down on their luck.  He created both a work furlough program and a chaplaincy program for county inmates.  He also played a large role in establishing Friends Outside, another county program started in 1955 to aid prisoners’ families.

Melvin Riley was born in Salem Ore., but grew up in Bakersfield.  He attended San Jose State University.  Riley served his country twice — first in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II, and later, as an MP during the Korean War.  He eventually moved to Elmwood, where he spent nine years on the “Farm.”  This was his nickname for the Elmwood Jail, which offered an agricultural rehabilitation program for inmates.  Riley helped design Read more »

As last year, California bail agents met at Lake Tahoe for the 2009 Annual Convention of the California Bail Agents (CBAA). Day one was Monday and included the usual State of the Association and PBUS National Updates.

Pretrial Release

Continuing Education Credit was offered to bondsmen who attended all required sessions, the first of which was an attorney presentation regarding Pre Trial Release presented by Ash Pirayou of Rutan & Tucker and a panel on Credit Card Bail. Pirayou reviewed current happenings in Pretrial Release (commonly known as Release on Own Recognizance or “OR“) in Santa Clara County. Pirayou said that Santa Clara County jailsare attempting to use pretrial release to relieve jail overcrowding and save money, but the bottom line numbers show a significantly different picture. He called on bail agents to help paint an accurate public picture.

Orange County Sheriff Candidate

Bondsmen were also addressed by Bill Hunt, candidate for Orange County Sheriff.  Hunt, who spent 22 years in the Orange County Read more »

In the U.S., it is reported the Swine Flu has killed approximately 400 Americans. the virus may have infected approximately 1 million people across the nation.

If you’d like to visit an inmate at the Elmwood Jail in Santa Clara County, you may have to wait for quite a long while. A new concern over Swine Flu now has officials locking the doors and turning visitors away.

Although this ban of visitors affects Read more »