HomeMy WebLinkAboutCorespondence Submittal - AB109 (Realignment)CITY OF PALM DESERT
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
STAFF REPORT
REQUEST: APPROVE THE SUBMITTAL OF CORRESPONDENCE TO THE
CITY'S LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVES CONCERNING
MODIFICATIONS FOR CORRECTING ISSUES WITH AB 109
(REALIGNMENT).
SUBMITTED BY:
DATE:
CONTENTS:
Recommendation
Stephen Y. Aryan, Risk Manager
May 10, 2012
Proposed AB 109 Correspondence
By Minute Motion, approve submitting correspondence to the City's State
Legislative Representatives concerning modifications for correcting issues
with AB 109 (Realignment).
Committee Recommendation
The Legislative Review Committee did not meet to review this matter in September, as
the legislature is currently on recess until the 2012-13 legislative session convenes in
December.
Backaround
AB 109 went into effect October 1, 2011, as a method for the State of California to
comply with a U.S. Supreme Court decision requiring it to lower its prison population by
30,000 inmates. Under AB 109, state prisoners up for parole as of October 1, 2011,
could be eligible for post -release community supervision (PRCS) probation.
The legislation "realigns" from the state to local level responsibility for supervising
people convicted of certain felony crimes. As a result of realignment AB 109 in
California:
• If an individual is convicted of a "non -serious, non-violent and non -sex -related"
felony crime, he/she will be sentenced to county jail and/or non -custodial
mandatory supervision, in lieu of a state prison sentencing.
• If an individual is currently serving a prison sentence for a "realignment" crime,
when he/she is released they will be supervised by county probation officers
under the aforementioned PRCS probation, in lieu of state parole agents.
AB 109 Correspondence
October 25, 2012
Page 2 of 2
On September 10, 2012, the Coachella Valley Association of Governments (CVAG)
Public Safety Committee (PSC) unanimously voted to have the individual cities write
letters to their legislative representatives, with the purpose of addressing key problem
areas created as a result of the implementation of AB109. The Committee further
agreed to provide CVAG with copies of the individual city letters, so that CVAG staff
could then compile a unified letter in support of correcting AB109.
Staff recommends submitted the attached correspondence to the City's State
Legislative Representatives. Staff will provide CVAG with copies of our correspondence,
so that CVAG staff could then compile a unified letter in support of fixing AB109.
Fiscal Analysis
There is no fiscal impact to the City related to submitting this correspondence.
Submitted By:
Stephen Y. AtYan, Risk lyanager
Approval:
n M. Wohlmuth, City Manager
CITY COUNCIL ACTION
APPROVED DENIED
RECEIVED OTHER
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Original on File with City Clerk's Orrice
September XX, 2012
(DRAFT LETTER TO CITY'S LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATIVES)
Subject: "Fixing" AB 109 Realignment
AB 109 "Realignment" has caused one of the biggest changes in our criminal justice system in
many years. It occurred during one of the biggest economic downturns since the Great
Depression, and Riverside County was one of the hardest hit counties within California. It also
occurred when many of Riverside County's 28 cities were grappling with deep fiscal constraints
that reduced staffing in our public safety agencies. One of the effects of the state prison
Realignment efforts brought about by AB 109 Realignment has been the shift of responsibility to
our local jail system for housing a large number of convicted criminals who would have
otherwise been held in state prison; even before AB 109 Realignment, the jail system within
Riverside County had not kept pace in size with the tremendous population growth our county
sustained over the past decade.
Driven primarily by the State's budget woes, including inadequate prison capacity, AB 109
Realignment was too hastily created and in the year since it went into effect key- flaws have been
found that need immediate correction by our Legislature. As the full impact and costs associated
with Realignment have become increasingly clear, the need for changes in current law has
become more and more apparent. Our community recommends strongly and supports the
following legislative fixes as most needed:
1) Guaranteed Funding From The State. It is imperative that funding for Realignment be
from a designated source, be adequate to fund the true costs of Realignment, be ongoing, and be
guaranteed. Currently any funding for Realignment is guaranteed only through the end of that
particular fiscal year. A permanent shift in responsibility of this magnitude must be accompanied
by a corresponding permanent shift in funding to the local level in an adequate amount to cover
the true costs. Without sufficient guaranteed funding, all of our neighborhoods and communities
could be put at even greater risk.
2) Sentences To Local County Jails. A change must be made to take total length of
sentence into account when designating where custody time will be served. No person should be
sentenced to more than 3 years in local custody, regardless of their offense. Any person
sentenced to custody for longer than 3 years, either for one case or any number of consecutive
cases, should be sent to state prison, which is better suited to deal with long term incarceration.
3) Statewide Fire Camps. A change must be made to enable Inmate Fire Camps
maintained by CDCR and Cal -Fire to be adequately populated with the appropriate county
inmates without burdening counties with all the costs. Since Realignment, the types of inmates
most suitable for Inmate Fire Camps are routinely sentenced to county jails, not state prison.
CDCR has indicated a willingness to accept appropriately screened inmates from counties to
keep the camps populated, but insists on passing the daily camp costs to the counties since they
have not been otherwise funded by the state. This cost is prohibitively expensive and will limit
the ability of most counties to send many sentenced prisoners to the fire camps. As a result, the
state will suffer during each fire season because they will likely have an insufficient number of
fire camp inmates to fight the inevitable wildfires — while the local jails remain "overcrowded".
In recognition for the valuable service provided across our entire state, California needs to cover
all the costs of Inmate Fire Camps as they did before Realignment, or at least require counties to
bear no financial burden beyond the cost of local inmate screening and transportation to and
from the designated CDCR transfer location.
4) Good Time Credits. A change must be made so that inmates who voluntarily accept
placement in a program designed as an alternative to physical custody can earn behavioral and
time -served credits if they maintain good behavior and are successful in the alternate programs.
One of the underpinnings of Realignment was a belief that local agencies could develop and
operate creative alternatives to custody that could keep communities safe while allowing the
proper inmates to be appropriately monitored without having to physically keep them in jail.
Current law gives inmates in local jails credits for time served while awaiting trial and
behavioral credits for inmates serving sentences, however; these same credits are usually NOT
available for the same inmates if they voluntarily participate in an alternative program, such as
GPS ankle bracelet programs or work release. Realignment allows for these programs, but failed
to address the credit issues. As a result, participants in these programs are penalized for their
participation and the programs are less attractive as alternatives to custody. A change needs to be
made so that time spent in programs where the inmate remains in the virtual custody and control
of the jail system, and fully complies with that program's requirements is treated the same as
time spent in physical jail custody in regard to credits.
5) Medically Infirm Lon$ Term Inmates. Another area of concern for the local jails
comes from being charged to care for an inmate population that is inherently older than the past
average, more criminally sophisticated, and possessing a greater depth of therapeutic needs at
higher levels than has been seen before. We now see more and more cases where inmates are
being sentenced to long terms in our local jail facilities with state prison pasts that have serious
medical or mental health problems. As the costs of caring for these inmates and taking care of
their health needs becomes more apparent, a legislative change will be needed to fund adequate
local facilities, staff, and services to meet these needs.
We remain ready to do our part to make Realignment work in our community, but how
effectively we are able to do so will depend a great deal on the legal changes to AB 109 by our
Legislature to correct some these key problem areas. As one of our elected representatives, we
trust that you will do your part in fixing some of the problems with AB 109 that place our
community's public safety at -risk.
Sincerely,