Prison Realignment Leading to More Prisoners, Probation Than Expected

The number of inmates and parolees in San Mateo County as a result of realignment is about 15 percent higher than what state officials projected, according to a report presented Tuesday to the Board of Supervisors.

The report, called the Public Safety Realignment Local Implementation Report, shows that the number of non-violent, non-high-risk offenders whose cases are being assigned to the County Probation Department instead of state parole is about 15 percent higher than what state analysts predicted when realignment began in October of 2011.

The number of inmates being sentenced to serve time in County jail rather than state prison under realignment is also about 15 percent more than what was predicted, county legislative coordinator Connie Juarez-Diroll said.

"The State Department of Finance had run some early projections to give to counties to begin planning for realignment," Juarez-Diroll said. "We're finding that the numbers are slightly higher than what had been predicted."

Approximately 170 inmates that would have gone to state prison have been sentenced to County jail under realignment, according to the report.

The influx of new inmates has resulted in a 53 percent increase in sentenced days at the jail facility. Around 82 percent of those inmates are men, and around 31 percent are between 30 and 39 years old.

Approximately 260 Post-Release Community Supervisees have had their cases newly assigned to the San Mateo County Probation Department under realignment. Nearly 87 percent of those have a moderate- or high-risk of re-offending, according to the report. So far, around 26 percent have new arrest warrants, 19 percent have been arrested for new offenses, and 7 percent have had their probation revoked.

The majority of the PCRS supervisees are from Daly City, South San Francisco, East Palo Alto and Redwood City. Around 13 percent are transient.

When realignment began last year, the Board of Supervisors requested that quarterly reports being given on the impacts of the plan on various departments. 

- Bay City News

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