Sacramento County Supervisors OK $13 million realignment plan for inmates

Sacramento County supervisors approved a $13 million plan Tuesday aimed at handling criminal offenders diverted from the state. 

Supervisors voted 4-1 to endorse the plan completed by a committee of county law enforcement and social service officials. The committee approved a mix of incarceration and rehabilitation programs but was narrowly divided on the plan's inclusion of reopening part of the county jail at a cost of $6 million for almost nine months.  Supervisor Phil Serna was the only board member to oppose the plan. He said he couldn't support it because too much funding was directed toward the jail.

The plan calling for the shift was created by Gov. Jerry Brown's administration and approved by the Legislature. The action came after a U.S. Supreme Court decision in May requiring that California reduce the population in its 33 prisons from about 142,750 to 110,000 by June 2013.

Counties started receiving offenders Oct. 1. The counties are receiving two types of new offenders – parolees who previously would have been supervised by the state, and inmates who previously would have been sentenced to state prison.

No current state inmates will be transferred to the counties for incarceration.  The Probation Department gets responsibility for parolees. The department received $4.2 million for a day reporting center, which will provide services including counseling.

The Sheriff's Department gets responsibility for the inmates. The department received $8.5 million for the jail expansion, a home detention program, and a pretrial release program. Sheriff Scott Jones said he anticipates having nearly $500,000 available because of opening part of the jail later than originally expected.  That money will go to a contract for inmate programs aimed at rehabilitation, Jones said.

The department is opening 275 beds at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center.  Reopening the facility is expensive because its old design requires more personnel than more modern facilities, such as the downtown jail, officials said.