BILL NUMBER: AB 1445	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  233
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 7, 2012
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  SEPTEMBER 7, 2012
	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 20, 2012
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 22, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 6, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 17, 2012
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  FEBRUARY 28, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Mitchell
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal)

                        JANUARY 4, 2012

   An act to amend Section 4025.5 of the Penal Code, relating to
jails.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1445, Mitchell. Jails: county inmate welfare funds.
   Existing law provides that the sheriff of each county may maintain
an inmate welfare fund to be kept in the treasury of the county into
which profit from a store operated in connection with the county
jail, 10% of all gross sales of inmate hobbycraft, and any rebates or
commissions received from a telephone company, as specified, are
required to be deposited. Existing law authorizes the sheriff to
expend money from the fund to assist indigent inmates, prior to
release, with clothes and transportation expenses, as specified.
Existing law authorizes inmate welfare funds to be used to augment
county expenses determined by the sheriff to be in the best interests
of the inmates, and requires the sheriff to submit an itemized
report of those expenditures annually to the board of supervisors.
   Existing law, until January 1, 2013, creates a pilot program that
authorizes the sheriff of certain counties and the Chief of
Correction of Santa Clara County to spend money from the inmate
welfare fund for the purpose of assisting indigent inmates with the
reentry process within 14 days after the inmate's release from the
county jail or other adult detention facility, as specified. Existing
law specifies that the assistance provided may include, but is not
limited to, work placement, counseling, obtaining proper
identification, education, and housing.
   This bill would extend the operation of those provisions until
January 1, 2015, and would add the Counties of Marin, Napa, San Luis
Obispo, and Ventura to the program. The bill would authorize the
sheriffs of counties participating in the program or the county
officer responsible for operating the jails, to spend money from the
inmate welfare fund for the purpose of assisting indigent inmates
with the reentry process within 30 days after the inmate's release
from the county jail or other adult detention facility, as specified.
The bill would also specify that money from the inmate welfare fund
shall not be used under the pilot program to provide services that
are required to be provided by the sheriff or county, as specified.
The bill would require, if a county elects to participate in the
pilot program, a county sheriff or county officer responsible for
operating a jail to include specified additional information in the
itemized report of expenditures to the board of supervisors,
including the number of inmates the program served.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 4025.5 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   4025.5.  (a) There is hereby created a pilot program in the
Counties of Alameda, Kern, Los Angeles, Marin, Napa, Orange,
Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Francisco, San Diego, San Luis
Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, and Ventura. In each
county, the sheriff or the county officer responsible for operating
the jails may expend money from the inmate welfare fund to provide
indigent inmates, after release from the county jail or any other
adult detention facility under the jurisdiction of the sheriff or the
county officer responsible for operating the jails, assistance with
the reentry process within 30 days after the inmate's release. The
assistance provided may include work placement, counseling, obtaining
proper identification, education, and housing.
   (b) Nothing in this section authorizes money from the inmate
welfare fund to be used to provide any services that are required to
be provided by the sheriff or the county. Money in the fund shall
supplement existing services, and shall not be used to supplant any
existing funding for services provided by the sheriff or the county.
   (c) As part of the itemized report of expenditures required to be
submitted to the board of supervisors pursuant to Section 4025, any
sheriff or county officer responsible for operating a jail of a
county that participates in the pilot program shall include in the
report all of the following:
   (1) How much money was spent pursuant to this section.
   (2) The number of inmates the program served.
   (3) The types of assistance for which the funds were used.
   (4) The average length of time an inmate used the program.
   (d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2015, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2015, deletes or extends
that date.