November 12, 2011
CA: "L.A. County jails may be out of room next month"
L.A. County jails may be out of room next month
The state law that shifts prisoners to local authorities means the Sheriff's Department may release thousands of inmates awaiting trial. A new way of identifying the least risky ones is in the works, Baca says.
By Andrew Blankstein and Robert Faturechi, Los Angeles Times
November 11, 2011
Los Angeles County's jails could run out of space as early as next month because of an influx of state prisoners, prompting officials to consider releasing potentially thousands of inmates awaiting trial.
The state's new prison law, which establishes a practice known as realignment, is expected to send as many as 8,000 offenders who would normally go to state prisons into the L.A. County Jail system in the next year.
Currently, defendants awaiting trial account for 70% of the jail population, but Sheriff Lee Baca said that might need to drop to 50%. The department is studying a major expansion of its electronic monitoring and home detention programs to keep track of inmates who are released.
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