By Rob Parsons
Appeal-Democrat
MARYSVILLE, Calif. — Authorities on both sides of the Feather River have said the Realignment Act is a mixed bag of some recidivism program improvements and new and complex law enforcement problems.
Problems in the jails range from struggling to provide adequate health care to finding the proper place to house inmates in jail.
“Classifying inmates correctly become a logistical nightmare,” said Capt. David Samson, commander of the Sutter County Jail. “You can’t house certain gang members together and there can also be religious issues, racial issues and sex offenders that can’t be housed with others. And we have a much higher (daily population) now that we did before.”
With realignment, the Sutter County Jail has about 100 more inmates per day than in did before. In 2010, the average daily inmate population in Sutter County Jail was about 200. That number rose to 300 in 2012.
In the Yuba County Jail the daily inmate population rose from 393 in 2010 to 410 last year, an increase of about 20 inmates.
It should be noted that Yuba County has a unique situation that greatly effects its jail population numbers. Nearly half of Yuba County’s inmates are federal immigration detainees paid for under a federal contract.
The larger numbers of inmates is a problem compounded with the fact that many inmates are serving much longer sentences than every before.
In Sutter County, one inmate has been sentenced to a seven years, while in Yuba County, one man is serving more than 13 years.
Sutter jail expansion may ease problems
Sutter County’s struggles could decrease after the jail construction expansion which should provide larger facilities. But that facility is at least two years away, Capt. David Samson said.
To combat the short-term problem, the Sutter County Jail spent some of the state realignment money to hire five more correctional officers.
“We’ve also increased training in tactics, but the reality is that we need the facilities to accommodate long-term stays,” Samson said.
Many, including Samson, have noted that jail facilities don’t have exercise yards and other outdoor areas and medical facilities that are available in state prisons.
Those additions are critical as county jails scramble logistically to meet the demands of a policy imposed on them.
Yuba impact uncertain; Sutter faults realignment
A single year’s worth of data may not be a large enough sample size to fully understand the effects of the Realignment Act has had on county jails, but jail officials said they have felt a significant difference.
“Assaults vary greatly from year to year, there are a lot of factors. (Last year) could be a statistical anomaly,” Undersheriff Jerry Read said of the Yuba County Jail. “But, yes, realignment could have something to do with it, too.”
Read noted that the 2012 jail violence statistics in Yuba County were still lower than they were in 2009, two years before the Realignment Act became law.
Capt. David Samson, who oversees the Sutter County Jail, said the problems for the jail had more to do with how the Realignment Act was implemented.
“Jails have always been inherently dangerous environments,” he said. “But better planning beforehand definitely would’ve helped. They (the state) could’ve put more into expanded jails before shifting the populations.”
County jail statistics
Average county jail inmates per day since realignment:
2010 2012
Sutter 200 300
Yuba 393 410
Inmate-on-inmate violence in jails per year:
2010 2012
Sutter 25 63
Yuba 60 69
Jail attacks on guards:
2010 2012
Sutter 93 174
Yuba 4 13