As part of a “realignment” effort to send more responsibilities back to local governments, Brown signed AB 109/SB 85 and AB 111.
Under AB 109, individuals convicted of lower level felonies that are not violent or serious would be eligible to serve their terms in local jails rather than state prisons. Local jurisdictions also would be assigned new responsibilities for monitoring adult parolees and juvenile offenders.
Brown's office released a statement in which he said AB 109 would improve public safety and empower local law enforcement, making “fundamental” changes to the state's correctional system by sending lower-level offenders and parole violators through local – not state – jurisdictions.
“For too long, the state’s prison system has been a revolving door for lower-level offenders and parole violators who are released within months – often before they are even transferred out of a reception center,” Brown said in his AB 109 signing message. “Cycling these offenders through state prisons wastes money, aggravates crowded conditions, thwarts rehabilitation, and impedes local law enforcement supervision.”
The governor's office also said the law will give local law enforcement “the right and the ability to manage offenders in smarter and cost-effective ways.”
But Lake County Sheriff Frank Rivero is far from convinced that the legislation is as positive as the governor says, and he suggested it won't fix the budget but will create other problems.
“All along I’ve looked at this as a just a complete giveaway to the most serious of crooks in the state of California,” Rivero said Tuesday. “I'm not really very pleased with this at all.”
County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox, who is concerned about the realignment plans and how they'll ultimately pass on more costs to local government, said state officials are supposed to brief the Board of Supervisors about the new law at the April 12 meeting. Rivero said he plans to be there for the update.
County Chief Probation Officer Dan Hurst did not respond to a call requesting comment.
Oscar Hidalgo, a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman, said the proposal applies to those sentenced after this coming July 1.
He said it's not a retroactive proposal, in that no currently incarcerated inmates will be returned to the county until they have completed their sentence.
Brown's office said AB 109 will not go into effect until a community corrections grant program is created by statute and funding is appropriated.
He wrote in his signing statement, “I intend to work closely with, and consult, police chiefs, sheriffs, chief probation officers, district attorneys and representatives of the counties and courts to ensure that any funding bill which makes Assembly Bill 109 operative is sufficient to protect public safety.”
On Monday Brown also signed AB 111, which his office said gives counties additional flexibility to access funding to increase local jail capacity for the purpose of implementing AB 109.
Hundreds of crimes to be excluded from prison terms
“I agree with local control of public safety by the county sheriff’s office and police departments, but this 'realignment' scheme poses a grave danger to the public,” Rivero said. “This is about the state abandoning its responsibility to the criminal justice system to the detriment of the citizens of California.”
Among the most significant concerns for Rivero is that AB 109/SB85 would exclude more than 500 felony crimes from state prison.
His analysis found that the bill excludes from state prison most drug offenses including methamphetamine sales, drug sales to children, child abuse, elder financial abuse, forcible assaults, gang recruitment, hate crimes, driving under the influence-related manslaughter, identity theft and violations of the gun-free school zone act.
Hidalgo said those who meet the criteria of not having commuted violent or serious crimes will be retained by the local jurisdictions to serve their jail term.
“In Lake County, we project this would affect 74 inmates that would stay at the local level to serve their respective sentences, and about the same on probation supervision,” Hidalgo said.
Those numbers are a “point in time” estimate based on an analysis that Hidalgo said was run last month.
“At that point, about 75 individuals on state parole in Lake County would have been eligible for this if the law was already in effect,” he said. “Same for inmates: 74 inmates in state prison from Lake County would have been eligible if the law was already in effect.”
Hidalgo cautioned that it's just a starting point analysis and the numbers could, and would, change.
Rivero said the Lake County Jail has around 300 beds, and the census recently has been a little above 200. Having an influx of new inmates would create potential overcrowding and require more correctional officers, he said.
Rivero said he didn't think he would have the authority to simply release inmates if crowding became an issue, suggesting that might be an issue that needs to be decided by the county's judges.
He said there are many ambiguities that haven't been resolved. “The unintended consequences are the big deal here.”
The increased population of high level, high risk felony criminals that would be transferred to the county jails for their confinements would require that serious criminals who have committed a variety of misdemeanor crimes including DUI, domestic violence, and sex crimes are likely to serve little time – if any – due to bed space restrictions, he said.
Rivero suggested the overcrowding would also cause severe restrictions in the holding of new arrestees, those awaiting trial, probation violators and parole violators.
The sheriff said that probation and parole for many offenders will be dropped or severely limited and dangerous felons will go unmonitored under AB 109’s new “post supervision release” system.
“They basically have eviscerated the idea of parole,” said Rivero, with no parole officers, no GPS tracking and an overwhelming case load for the county’s probation officers.
He said the release of prisoners also will necessitate many more deputy sheriffs and police officers to combat what he said is a “predictable crime wave.”
Rivero pledged to vigorously fight AB 109's implementation, and he asked the community to join him by calling the governor's office and state representatives to voice their concerns.
“I just hope the people stand up and really take a look at this thing,” he said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
