A boom in new jail construction is taking place in counties across the state of California, according to a recent report.
The reason? “Realignment,” according to The Marshall Project’s report released in July.
“Twenty-eight counties are leveraging $1.7 billion in state grants to build and expand 35 jails,” the report says.
Although Realignment was designed to reduce overcrowding in state prisons by keeping some non-violent offenders in county lockup facilities, doing so has caused a significant increase in local jail populations, the report says.
“The purpose was to lower the number of incarcerated people, but it seems somehow that got lost in the translation,” said Riverside attorney and re-entry advocate Vonya Quarles, according to The Marshall Project.
The report states local jail populations have increased by one inmate for every three no longer in state prison.
In Riverside County, close to a quarter of the jail bed space is occupied by persons who before Realignment would have been housed in the state prison, according to the report.
Now, the effort to lower the prison population has turned into an effort to assist the counties to accommodate a rising number of inmates, as billions of dollars in state funding are being allocated to county officials for the renovation of old jails and the building of new ones, the report adds.
The Riverside County sheriff said he’s looking to triple the bed capacity over the next 13 years, according to the report.
“Our bed capacity is our greatest deterrent,” said Assistant Sheriff Jerry Gutierrez. “There needs to be a hammer.”
Yet there has been a release-valve functioning at the same time. As result of Proposition 47 – which reduced six felonies to misdemeanors – thousands of inmates have been released, and thousands more are eligible for resentencing. Overall, the county facilities are reporting a substantial drop in jail populations, according to the provided figures.
Nevertheless, new jail construction and refurbishment and expansion of already existing jails remains at pace.
The projects will initially add about 12,000 beds in the state, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, the report says.
Currently, crime rates are continuing to drop statewide; and, for now, the state prison system has met its benchmark for reducing its inmate population, the report notes.
