UPDATE: Legislation Shifts State Prisoners to Local Jurisdictions

Updated Oct. 7 Dana Toyama, public information officer for the office of public and employee communications, notified Patch of some additional details regarding realignment in California. Toyama said there will be no early release or transfers of state prisoners to the counties, and that all prisoners currently in state prison will continue to serve their term there. The 2011 Public Safety Realignment bill only affects prisoners convicted after Oct. 1, she said.

"Offenders are still accountable, and low-level offenders convicted after Oct. 1 will serve their time locally," Toyama wrote in a prepared statement.

For more information on realignment, such as what is and isn't ocurring on Oct. 1, refer to the realignment fact sheet.

California's new realignment legislation, which will shift prisoners from state prisons to county level jails and programs, went into effect Saturday and one statewide organization has issued grades for more than a dozen counties based on their plans for the transition.

Under the new state legislation addressing overcrowding in state prisons, AB 109, which was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on April 4 and went into effect Saturday, states that inmates convicted of nonviolent, non-serious offenses, as well as adult parolees and juvenile offenders, will return to local jurisdictions.

Californians United for a Responsible Budget, or CURB, a coalition of more than 40 organizations that aim to curb spending by reducing the number of prisoners and prisons, issued grades for 13 counties based on their plans for realignment. 

Of the 13 counties evaluated, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Francisco counties scored the highest and received passing grades for their use of alternative solutions, such as drug treatment, housing programs and restorative justice programs, according to CURB.

Alameda and Contra Costa counties received incompletes and San Mateo County received a failing grade, CURB officials said.

This massive realignment gives counties the chance to implement reforms that could shift resources away from "simply locking people up," CURB officials said.

CURB based their grading system on the counties' plans to balance alternative sentencing and corrections spending.

"Even though education spending has been absolutely pummeled by budget cuts, students returning to school this fall are still expected to perform," CURB coordinator Emily Harris said in a statement.

With this in mind, CURB officials evaluated county plans and issued pass, fail, and incomplete grades.

-Bay City News Service