County Corner: Aug. 2, 2012

Realignment
The Board of Supervisors received a report on the status of jails, prisoners and realignment of functions between the state and county since implementation of A.B. 109 in October 2011.

The immediate result was jail overcrowding and the release of more than 3,000 inmates. The county’s sheriff and the probation departments analyzed these results and suggested several options, which should have significant positive results.

Realignment authorized the shift of inmates from state prisons to county responsibility. Given the limited availability of county jail beds, realignment created the need to use alternatives to incarceration.

These options, which include pre-trial services, electronic monitoring, graduated sanctions, flash incarceration, work release, day reporting centers and placement at fire camps, are generating positive results and may create budget savings as their use continues. The preliminary analysis finds some of these alternatives less costly than jail stays.

There was no wavering from the sheriff’s recommendation that Riverside County needs to construct additional jail space. The Indio expansion has begun and so has planning for a hub jail in the center of the county.

The county executive officer is requesting the CCP continue analysis of these options and improve the cost estimates. In January 2013, the issue should be returned to the board for discussion and possible action.

Property Assessments
The Riverside County Assessor’s Office provided the following data. Property assessments have reversed their three-year decline and are one percent higher in 2012 than last year. Since the high of 2008, local property valuations have fallen more than 11 percent.