KMJNOW.com
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The federal courts will begin handing responsibility for inmate health care back to California corrections officials on Friday, the first step in ending a 7-year-old receivership that has cost the state billions of dollars to improve prison medical conditions.
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will assume responsibility for hiring employees and preparing to open a $1 billion prison medical complex in Stockton, 50 miles south of the state capital. The state also is taking charge of 2,200 guards who are responsible for transporting inmates to medical appointments.
If the transition goes well, the court-appointed overseer, J. Clark Kelso, predicted his control of inmate medical care could end in about a year. A federal judge is likely to appoint a special master to monitor the state’s compliance at least into 2014.
Full story: CA Regains Control of Inmate Healthcare