Overcrowded Jails May Be in Our Future

A new budget plan proposed by the state of California would require state prisoners to remain in county jails, the North County Times is reporting.

The way it is works now is any criminal sentenced to one year or less in custody is housed in a local jail, any longer and the prisoner is sent to the state prison system, wrote reporter Teri Figueroa.

In the new plan, prisoners who commit low-level felonies and are sentenced to three years or less would remain in local jails, Figueroa writes.

The daily population of San Diego jails on Friday was just below 4,700 people. San Diego County jails can hold about 5,500 people; if the plan were passed the county would have to find room for 2,100 extra criminals each year, wrote Figueroa. The plan could include sending some prisoners home early, she said.

The plan would not only effect the San Diego Sheriff's Department, who houses the county's prisoners, but the county's probation department as well.

The state is only proposing giving the county $11,500 per prisoner. Figueroa says it appears the money would not go to the Sheriff's department to help pay for the extra housing. She says it would go towards the probation department to help pay for new programming to help educate and find employment for people in trouble with the law, however, the probation department only has 78 officers to monitor over 14,000 individuals currently on probation. The probation department is already on overload and cannot keep a close eye on offenders released from local jails, Figueroa says.

The county says if the plan is passed they will have to find new alternative ways to keep prisoners in custody.