California prison officials project they will meet a federal court mandate to trim the state’s prison occupancy by 33,000 over the next 24 months, according to a recent Associated Press article.
Local sheriffs and county probation departments will take over responsibility for tens of thousands of low-level offenders due to a controversial new law that will take effect Oct 1.
Officials said they are on course in their long-range plan to turn over control of many prisoners. However, they expect to fall short in meeting the court’s first benchmark, looming at the end of the year, by a projected 800 inmates. They anticipate meeting a second deadline by cutting 20,000 inmates by next June.
Attorneys for the department said in their court filing, “At this point…there appears to be no need to implement additional measures or to ask that the benchmark dates be extended, when defendants’ best projections show they will achieve the June 2012 benchmark on time.”
That contradicts a report written by the Legislative Analyst’s Office that projected the state will miss all benchmarks and urged the department to petition for deadline extensions.
Corrections spokesman Oscar Hidalgo said seeking a delay is premature until the department sees actual numbers from the realignment law.
Michael Bien, a lawyer representing mentally ill inmates in a major court case, said attorneys want to run their own numbers before projecting whether the state can meet its deadlines.
The realignment law is set to begin Oct. 1. County law enforcement authorities and Republican legislators are concerned about counties’ ability to finance their new responsibilities in the future.
California State Sheriffs’ Association spokesman Nick Warner stated law enforcement officials are making the best of a tough situation with no major hiccups, so far.
