Now that realignment has been underway for over a month, once again concerns have materialized over the ability and physical capacity of counties to handle the transition and responsibility of handling new inmates due to overcrowding. Based on early signs, it would appear those fears are well placed, as estimates were off when it came to predicting the number of state prisoners that would land in county jails. Consequently, counties have been left to scramble in finding extra room for the flood of extra inmates. For instance, Orange County has taken in double the amount of prisoners it was expecting and Los Angeles County has taken on an extra 300 prisoners than it was expecting. Fresno County has also taken on twice as many inmates as projected. The problem for counties is not just space but time, as many did not anticipate having to book so many inmates so soon. Many parole violators have been released in light of the lack of beds. The Fresno Bee reports on the spacing problems facing local authorities in Fresno:
“Public safety leaders have feared the state-mandated charge, which started Oct. 1, would lead to jail overcrowding and early releases of inmates. Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said that appears increasingly likely. Instead of the jail population increasing by the roughly 500 in two years that the state projected, the jail is on track to have several hundred more than that, Mims said. ‘We're not going to have the room for all of these inmates,’ Mims said.”
In Orange County, officials fear current inmate levels mean that jails could reach capacity by May. In Kern, facilities have already been crammed, so 50 parole violators ended up being freed. House-arrest programs and electronic monitors will all have to be considered as counties grapple with spacing issues, but the time to set up such programs is an issue. As for why there are more inmates than expected, the LA Times points out that “State officials and some sheriffs believe the higher-than-projected number of state prisoners being sent to jails has occurred in part because defense attorneys waited until realignment took effect to settle their clients' cases.”
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