BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 188 (Liu) - County-operated conservation camps.
Amended: April 8, 2013 Policy Vote: Public Safety 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 23, 2013 Consultant: Jolie Onodera
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: SB 188 would authorize counties to establish and
operate conservation camps for male and female county jail
inmates. This bill would also provide that county jail inmates
assigned to a county conservation camp would earn two days of
sentence reduction for each day of service.
Fiscal Impact:
Major future local savings (Local/Local Revenue Fund) in
reduced jail sentences served to the extent a significant
number of county jail inmates participate in county-operated
conservation camps, earning two-for-one sentence credits.
Potential one-time major local costs to modify county jails
or construct new facilities to establish conservation camps.
As the bill restricts the cost of establishing and
maintaining camps to county general funds, it does not
appear a county would be able to access any portion of the
$500 million in lease-revenue bonds authorized under SB 1022
(Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) Chapter 42/2012 for
this purpose.
Potential future costs in the millions of dollars (General
Fund) to CAL FIRE to backfill the loss of inmate fire crews
with higher wage workers to the extent the establishment of
county-operated conservations camps reduces the number of
inmates available to meet CAL FIRE's ongoing firefighting
needs.
Background: Current law creates the California Conservation Camp
program and authorizes the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) to establish conservation camps to allow
state prison inmates to perform public conservation projects
such as forest fire prevention and control, forest and watershed
management, recreation, fish and wildlife management, and soil
conservation. Eligible low-level inmates assigned to fire camps
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also assist the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL
FIRE) with fire suppression work and other emergency responses.
To incentivize inmates to participate in these programs,
eligible inmates who are selected and assigned to conservation
camps earn two days of sentence credit for every one day of
service in the camp. Inmates not only receive work credit but
also acquire job skills that could assist them in securing
employment once released, reducing the potential for reoffending
and returning to prison.
Under existing law, county jail inmates may be assigned to
county-operated industrial farms or industrial road camps, or
may be assigned to state-operated conservation camps through a
contract between the county and the state. However, a county is
currently not authorized to establish or operate a conservation
camp under existing law. In addition, county jail inmates are
only afforded one day of sentence credit for each day of service
in an industrial farm or road camp, and are only eligible to
earn two days of sentence credit for each day served in a
state-operated conservation camp.
Due to 2011 Public Safety Realignment, a significant number of
low-level felony offenders are no longer sentenced to state
prison but are instead admitted to county jail. This realignment
has resulted in felony offenders serving considerably longer
sentences in county jail. This bill would authorize counties to
create and operate local conservation camps, and to offer
eligible jail inmates job experience and sentencing credit
incentives comparable to those available in state-operated
conservation camps.
Proposed Law: This bill would authorize counties to establish
and operate conservation camps for county jail inmates in the
same manner that they are authorized to operate industrial road
camps and industrial farms. Additionally, this bill:
Provides that a county jail inmate assigned to a
county-operated conservation camp may earn two days of
credit for every one day of service.
Provides that the industrial farm, industrial road camp, or
conservation camp may be established as part of the county
jail, or as an entity separate from the county jail.
Authorizes a county to operate separate conservation camps
for male and female county jail inmates.
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Provides that a county is not required to create or
participate in a county conservation camp program.
Specifies that the cost of establishing and maintaining a
conservation camp shall be paid out of the county general
fund.
Related Legislation: AB X1 17 (Blumenfield) Chapter 12/2011,
Criminal Justice Realignment of 2011, made various technical,
clarifying, and conforming changes to implement the 2011 public
safety realignment proposal contained in AB 109 (Budget
Committee), Chapter 15/2011 and related bills. The bill provided
that any jail inmate assigned to a conservation camp who is
eligible to earn one day of credit for every one day of
incarceration shall instead earn two days of credit for every
one day of service.
Staff Comments: By enabling counties to establish and operate
conservation camps, this bill could result in major ongoing
savings to counties due to shorter sentences served in local
custody afforded by the doubling of sentencing credits to two
days of credit for every one day served. Additionally, the
establishment of local conservation camps could help relieve
overcrowding in the county jails that has been exacerbated by
the realignment of lower-level offenders from state to local
supervision since October 1, 2011. Given the large base of about
25,000 realigned offenders per year, even a one percent
participation rate in the camps would result in local savings in
excess of several million dollars per year after the initial
costs to establish the camps are incurred. Local communities
would also benefit from various conservation projects, and to
the extent the skills acquired by inmates lead to more
successful reentry into communities, the provisions of this bill
could also result in long-term cost savings in reduced
recidivism.
Counties opting to establish a conservation camp could incur
substantial one-time costs to modify existing jail facilities or
construct new facilities separate from the county jail, as
authorized under the bill's provisions. The bill specifies the
cost of establishing and maintaining a conservation camp is to
be paid out of the county general fund, and any revenue derived
from the camp must be paid into the county general fund. As a
result, counties may not be able to receive funds from the $500
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million in lease-revenue bonds authorized under SB 1022
(Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) Chapter 42/2012, for
this purpose, though the proposed use of the funds would not
appear inconsistent with the intent to assist counties construct
and modify jails to accommodate longer-term inmates.
According to CAL FIRE, there are 39 fire camps jointly operated
with CDCR with a capacity to accommodate about 4,000 inmates
(196 inmate crews). Because realignment has significantly
reduced the number of low-level offenders sentenced to state
prison, the number of state inmates remaining and potentially
eligible for participation in the state-operated camps is
projected to decline. Recent projections indicate the number of
eligible state inmates for fire camp assignment is estimated to
decline by 1,200 to 1,500 inmates. To address the potential
shortfall in available inmates, the realignment legislation
authorized counties to contract back with CDCR for inmate
placements in the fire camps.
At the time of this analysis, CDCR reported three counties
(Shasta, Riverside, and Los Angeles) are actively involved in
negotiations to contract with the state, and three additional
counties (San Joaquin, Orange, and San Diego) have expressed
interest but are not currently engaged in negotiations. The CDCR
does not have a projection on the number of contracts that will
potentially be executed, but to the extent the provisions of
this bill result in fewer counties contracting with the state in
lieu of establishment of local camps, it is unknown to what
degree the remaining eligible and participating pool of state
inmates will be able to meet CAL FIRE's ongoing firefighting
needs.
Apart from the reduced number of inmates potentially available
to staff fire crews, CAL FIRE has also expressed concerns
regarding the ability to utilize the county inmate crews should
the counties agree to provide their services. The state-operated
system currently in place allows for statewide standardization
of equipment and training at two regional training centers, and
it is unknown if county-operated camps would meet those
standards. The extent of custody issues and potential
geographical constraints that could arise regarding the movement
of county inmate crews throughout the state is also unknown at
this time.
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Should the establishment of county-operated conservation camps
significantly impact the number of inmate fire crews available,
CAL FIRE may need to rely on contracts with federal or outside
agencies for work previously carried out by inmates. According
to CAL FIRE, the cost of an inmate fire crew is $3,500 per day
of fire suppression service, while the equivalent numbers for a
federal crew is over $13,000 per day. If CAL FIRE were required
to contract out for 10 percent of its fire crews to replace 20
inmate crews, the increased cost to CAL FIRE would be $200,000
per day.
Staff notes proposed trailer bill language entitled "Local
Academic and Conservation Camp Credits" contains language
substantially similar to this bill.