Brown Signs Bill To Curb Prison Overcrowding by Transferring Inmates

On Monday, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a bill (AB 109) to transfer tens of thousands of state prison inmates to county jails as part of an effort to reduce prison overcrowding, the Los Angeles Times reports (Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 4/5).

Background

In 2009, a federal three-judge panel ruled that overcrowding at California's prisons violated constitutional standards for medical and mental health care.

The panel ordered the state to reduce its prison population by more than 40,000 (Gramlich, Central Valley Business Times, 4/4).

Details on Possible Transfers

Transferring inmates from state facilities to county jails would allow relatively low-level offenders to remains closer to their homes. Inmates then could access local drug misuse treatment and mental health services, which are believed to be more effective, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Brown has said that the transfer program would not start until the state has collected sufficient revenue to provide local authorities with the funding needed to offset their costs.

A large portion of the revenue was expected to come from the governor's proposed ballot measure to extend certain taxes. However, Brown has yet to obtain the support necessary to put the tax extension measure before voters (Los Angeles Times, 4/5).