By Julia Reynolds
Monterey County Herald
MONTEREY, Calif. -- When state Sen. Sam Blakeslee recently met with local law enforcement leaders in Monterey, he was struck by their apprehension over plans to send thousands of “low-level” state prisoners back to California’s counties.
“It was described to me as a perfect storm,” Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, said.
But a new report says state corrections data show that Monterey County hasn’t sent that many non-violent, low-level inmates to prison to begin with.
At the end of 2009, the county only had 198 such offenders serving time in state prisons.
Other counties are sending low-level offenders to prison at rates up to four times higher.
That’s the good news especially now that the state’s legislature has voted to send those inmates back to their home counties.
The bad news is Monterey County’s jail is already far over capacity, so even these small numbers can present big headaches.
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