By Richard K. De Atley
The Press Enterprise
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. — The Riverside County agencies that deal with the state’s realignment program met Tuesday, Aug. 7, to begin dividing up $43 million in state allocation funds for the first full year of the program.
The state’s prisoner realignment has sent thousands of newly convicted inmates, probation violators and newly released ex-prisoners into county jails or local probation supervision instead of state prison or parole. In order to compensate for the additional prisoners, the state allocates an amount of money to each county. The amount allocated is voted on each year by the Legislature.
Each county decides how the money is to be dispersed among its affected agencies with each agency requesting the amount they think they should receive.
At the Riverside County meeting, the initial amount of money requested by the various agencies added up to about $58.5 million - or some $15 million more than is available.
“Something’s gotta give somewhere,” noted District Attorney Paul Zellerbach near the meeting’s conclusion.
The Community Corrections Partnership, overseen by County Probation Chief Alan M. Crogan, agreed to a special meeting Aug. 21 to brush up spending reports for both the past and next fiscal year. The reports are due for review by the Board of Supervisors at their Aug. 28 meeting.
The partnership also will decide whether to meet as previously scheduled on Tuesday, Sept. 4, to vote on the state allocation proposals, or continue the date to Sept. 11.
Cumulatively, $9 million in state realignment funds from the last fiscal year will roll over into 2012-13, and among the considerations for some agencies will be whether to reduce their requests according to how much rollover funds they still have.
Realignment was initiated Oct. 1 under state law AB109. It moves from state to county jurisdiction those released from state prison who’s most recent crimes were not classified as violent, sexual or serious.
It also declares anyone sentenced after Oct. 1 in those categories will go to county jail rather than state prison, even though sentences may be years longer than the previous county jail limit of one year.
The $6.3 billion measure was passed to meet a federal court order to reduce the state prison population by about 33,000 by 2013.
The impact on Riverside County was felt almost immediately.
The largest funding proposals Tuesday included $25 million from the Sheriff’s Department, which manages the overcrowded jails; $14.1 million from the probation department, which oversees those released from custody under realignment rules, and $13.2 million from mental health, which in addition to treatment also is in charge of trying to find housing for the newly released, many of whom are homeless.
The problems each department faced were outlined during the afternoon meeting:
The Probation Department was told by state corrections officials it would get 1,836 released ex-convicts from state prison; they got 2,397, or 31 percent more than anticipated. Authorities also believe about 40 percent of those released to their oversight would be considered high-risk - in other words, high-maintenance for probation officers. It turned out to be more like 62 percent.
That affected caseloads for probation officers, forecast at 28 for each, is now more like 45.
The Sheriff’s Department has had to make more than 3,000 early releases of inmates since January from its at-capacity jails. That includes people awaiting trial and those serving sentences. They also have had to house realignment inmates who had been sentenced for several years’ incarceration in facilities designed for a maximum term of one year.
The early releases are because of a 1993 federal court order that limits the number of inmates that Riverside County jails can house, forcing sheriff’s officials along with prosecutors from the district attorney’s office to review records and make decisions on releasing what Sheriff Stan Sniff has come to call “the best of the worst.”
Chief Deputy Raymond Gregory, who oversees corrections support and planning for the Sheriff’s Department, told the Aug. 7 gathering that currently about 965 jail beds are occupied by realignment inmates, or 25 percent of the jail population, “and they are what really drives the federal releases.”
County Mental Health Director Jerry Wengerd sought $1.3 million more than last year’s allotment for the housing category of his budget. That includes emergency housing and transitional housing, the latter including rehabilitation services, both of which got more pressure than originally expected.
San Bernardino County’s partnership group has already allocated its state allotment of $55.8 million, with $23.8 million going to its Probation Department and $25.1 million to the Sheriff’s Department.
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