BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 2127
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   March 27, 2012
          Counsel:          Stella Choe


                         ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
                                 Tom Ammiano, Chair

               AB 2127 (Hernández) - As Introduced:  February 23, 2012
           

          SUMMARY  :   Authorizes a sheriff or other official to permit a 
          person in a work release program to receive work-release credit 
          for participation in educational, vocational, substance abuse, 
          life skills or parenting programs.  Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)Requires that participation in educational, vocational, 
            substance abuse, life skills or parenting programs be 
            considered in lieu of performing labor in a work release 
            program on an hour-for-hour basis, with eight work-related 
            hours to equal one day of custody credit.  

          2)Provides that a sheriff or other official may permit a 
            participant in a work release program to, upon documented 
            proof of employment and verification of attendance at the 
            worksite, receive work release credit for actively seeking and 
            ultimately obtaining regular employment upon release from 
            custody. 

          3)The sheriff or other official may award up to five days of 
            work release credit for the job search. 

           EXISTING LAW:  

          1)Authorizes the board of supervisors of any county to authorize 
            the sheriff or other official in charge of county correctional 
            facilities to offer a voluntary program under which any person 
            committed to the facility may participate in a work release 
            program in which one day of participation will be in lieu of 
            one day of confinement.  ÝPenal Code Section 4024.2(a).]

          2)Provides that the work release program shall consist of any of 
            the following:

             a)   Manual labor to improve or maintain levees or public 
               facilities, including, but not limited to, streets, parks 








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               and schools;

             b)   Manual labor in support of nonprofit organizations, as 
               approved by the sheriff or other official in charge of the 
               correctional facilities.  As a condition of assigning 
               participants of a work release program to perform manual 
               labor in support of nonprofit organizations pursuant to 
               this section, the board of supervisors shall obtain 
               workers' compensation insurance which shall be adequate to 
               cover work-related injuries incurred by those participants;

             c)   Performance of graffiti cleanup for local governmental 
               entities, including participation in a graffiti abatement 
               program, as approved by the sheriff or other official in 
               charge of correctional facilities;  

             d)   Performance of weed and rubbish abatement on public and 
               private property, as approved by the sheriff or other 
               official in charge of the correctional facilities; and

             e)   Performance of house repairs or yard services for senior 
               citizens and the performance of repairs to senior centers 
               through contact with local senior service organizations, as 
               approved by the sheriff or other official in charge of the 
               correctional facilities.  Where a work release participant 
               has been assigned to this task, the sheriff or other 
               official shall agree upon in advance with the senior 
               service organization about the type of services to be 
               rendered by the participant and the extent of contact 
               permitted between the recipients of the services and the 
               participant.  ÝPenal Code Section 4024.2(b)(1).]

          3)States that any person who is not able to perform manual labor 
            as specified because of a medical condition, physical 
            disability, or age, may participate in a work release program 
            involving any other type of public sector work that is 
            designated and approved by the sheriff or other official in 
            charge of the correctional facilities.  ÝPenal Code Section 
            4024.2(b)(1)(F).]

          4)Provides that a sheriff or other official may permit a 
            prisoner participating in a work release program to receive 
            work release credit for participation in education programs, 
            vocational training, or substance abuse programs in lieu of 
            performing labor in a work release program on an hour-for-hour 








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            basis.  However, credit for that participation may not exceed 
            one-half of the hours established for the work release 
            program, and the remaining hours shall consist of manual 
            labor.  ÝPenal Code Section 4024.2(b)(2).]

          5)As a condition of participating in a work release program, a 
            person shall give his or her promise to appear for work or 
            assigned activity by signing a notice to appear before the 
            sheriff or at the education, vocational, or substance abuse 
            program at a time and place specified in the notice and shall 
            sign an agreement that the sheriff may immediately retake the 
            person into custody to serve the balance of his or her 
            sentence if the person fails to appear for the program at the 
            time and place agreed to, does not perform the work or 
            activity assigned, or for any other reason is no longer a fit 
            subject for release.  Any person who willfully violates his or 
            her written promise to appear at the time and place specified 
            is guilty of a misdemeanor.  ÝPenal Code Section 4024.2(c).]

          6)Authorizes the board of supervisors of any county in which the 
            average daily inmate population is 90 percent of the county's 
            correctional system's mandated capacity may authorize the 
            sheriff or other official in charge of county correctional 
            facilities to operate a program under which any person 
            committed to the facility is required to participate in a work 
            release program pursuant to criteria described in subdivision 
            (b) of Section 4024.2.  Participants in this work release 
            program shall receive any sentence reduction credits that they 
            would have received had they served their sentences in a 
            county correctional facility.  Priority for participation in 
            the work release program shall be given to inmates who 
            volunteer to participate in the program.  ÝPenal Code Section 
            4024.3(a).]

          7)Allows the sheriff, chief of police, or any other person 
            responsible for a county or city jail to apply to the 
            presiding judge of the superior court to receive general 
            authorization for a period of 30 days to accelerate the 
            release, discharge, or expiration of sentence date of 
            sentenced inmates up to a maximum of five days.  The total 
            number of inmates released pursuant to this section shall not 
            exceed a number necessary to balance the inmate count and 
            actual bed capacity.  Inmates closest to their normal release, 
            discharge, or expiration of sentence date shall be given 
            accelerated release priority.  The number of days that 








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            release, discharge, or expiration of sentence is accelerated 
            shall in no case exceed 10 percent of the particular inmate's 
            original sentence, prior to the application thereto of any 
            other credits or benefits authorized by law.  (Penal Code 
            Section 4024.1.)

          8)Provides that county boards of supervisors may authorize the 
            release jail inmates on work furlough.  (Penal Code Section 
            1208.)

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   Unknown

           COMMENTS  :   

           1)Author's Statement  :  According to the author, "Many local 
            county jails are under a federal mandate to keep their inmate 
            population below full capacity level in order to prevent jail 
            overcrowding.  Currently San Bernardino County has over 1000 
            inmates on electronic monitoring that receive full time credit 
            24/7.  They are cleared to work away from their home while 
            being monitored and they get full custody credit.  They can 
            even elect to just pay for the monitoring and get full custody 
            credits for just staying home instead of working.  As the need 
            arises, the Sheriff can authorize early releases to control 
            jail population.  We should be able to give a sentenced inmate 
            credit for working.

          "Current law does not allow for the Sheriff to give work credits 
            for sentenced inmates who are gainfully employed, or spend the 
            majority of a day searching for employment.  The whole 
            direction of this effort would be to encourage and reward 
            positive behavior and actively seeking or obtaining employment 
            would seem to qualify."

           2)Education and Employment Related to Successful Reentry  :   
            Higher levels of education provide opportunities for 
            employment, which is associated with lower rates of 
            reoffending.  A national study found that "Ýv]ery few jail 
            inmates participate in vocational or educational programs 
            while incarcerated.  Indeed, just 14 percent of inmates report 
            that they participate in educational programs in jail, 
            compared with 52 percent of state prisoners.  Less than five 
            percent of jail inmates participate in vocational programs, 
            compared with nearly one-third of inmates in state prison."  
            ÝLife After Lockup: Improving Reentry from Jail to the 








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            Community (May 2008) < 
            http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/Final_Life_After_Lockup.pdf> (as of 
            March 21, 2012).]  After realignment, the average length of 
            stay in a county jail will increase.  The more time a person 
            spends in confinement, the more difficult it will be for 
            successful reentry.  Incentivizing inmates to participate in 
            vocational and educational training, as well as awarding an 
            inmate's efforts to find employment, will result in lower 
            levels of reoffending.

           3)Arguments in Support  :  

             a)   According to the  Drug Policy Alliance  , "This bill is a 
               smart response to public safety realignment.  AB 2127 
               upgrades work release - which is already a useful tool for 
               managing jail populations and takes a community-based 
               approach to reducing recidivism - to better incentivize 
               participation in programs like vocation training and 
               substance abuse treatment that address the root causes of 
               low-level offenses by improving the credit ratio for these 
               programs.

             "This bill also makes an important step forward by 
               incentivizing participants to acquire or retain full-time 
               employment.  Employment, whether new or existing, that is 
               retained post-arrest is proven to reduce recidivism.  Also, 
               allowing work release credit for employment will reduce 
               costs to the county by reducing the number of participants 
               being supervised at a work release site."

             b)   According to the  Association for Los Angeles Deputy 
               Sheriffs  , "AB 2127 rewards those who choose their detention 
               time in a positive way.  AB 2127 will authorize a sheriff 
               or designee to permit a participant in a work release 
               program to receive work release credit for documented 
               participation in educational programs, vocational programs, 
               substance abuse programs, life skills programs, or 
               parenting programs.  This measure will require that 
               participation in these programs be considered in lieu of 
               performing labor in a work release program on an 
               hour-for-hour basis with 8 work-related hours to equal to 
               one day of custody credit, and would not limit the credit 
               received for that participation nor require that the 
               participant perform manual labor.  This will also authorize 
               the sheriff to permit a participant in a work release 








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               program to, upon documented proof of employment and 
               verification of attendance at the worksite, receive work 
               release credit for actively seeking and ultimately 
               obtaining regular employment upon release from custody."

           4)Previous Legislation  :  AB 109 (Committee on Budget). Chapter 
            15, Statutes of 2011, realigned responsibilities for certain 
            parolees and newly convicted offenders who are deemed to be 
            non-violent, non-serious and non-sex offenders from state to 
            local jurisdictions.  

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department (Sponsor)
          California State Sheriffs Association (Co-Sponsor)
          Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (Co-Sponsor)
          Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
          California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
          California State Association of Counties
          Californians United for a Responsible Budget
          County of San Bernardino
          Drug Policy Alliance
          Friends Committee on Legislation of California
          Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
          National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
          Regional Council of Rural Counties
          Riverside Sheriffs' Association
          Urban Counties Caucus

           Opposition 

           California District Attorneys Association
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744