SB 833, as amended, Liu. Jails: discharge of prisoners.
Existing law authorizes the sheriff to discharge a prisoner from the county jail at a time on the last day a prisoner may be confined that the sheriff considers to be in the best interests of that prisoner. Existing law allows for the accelerated release of inmates, as specified, upon the authorization of the presiding judge of the superior court.
This bill would additionally authorize the sheriff to offer a voluntary program to a prisoner, upon completion of a sentence served or a release ordered by the court to be effected the same day, that would allow the prisoner to stay in the custody facility for up to 16 additional hours or until normal business hours, whichever is shorter, in order to offer the prisoner the ability to be discharged to a treatment center or during daytimebegin delete hours.end deletebegin insert
hours, as specified. The prisoner would be allowed to revoke his or her consent and be discharged as soon as possible and practicable.end insert The bill wouldbegin insert alsoend insert specify that this authorization does not prevent the early release of prisoners as otherwise allowed by law or allow jails to retain prisoners any longer than otherwise required by law without thebegin delete prisoners’end deletebegin insert prisoner’send insert express written consent.begin insert The bill would specify that offering this voluntary program is an act of discretion under a specified provision of law that provides immunity from civil liability to a public employee for injuries resulting
from the employee’s exercise of discretion.end insert
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:
3(a) City and county jails throughout California regularly release
4jailed persons during nighttime hours.
5(b) begin deletePersons end deletebegin insertOftentimes persons end insertreleased during late night hours
6are unable to access basic reentrybegin delete services, are susceptible to begin insert
services.end insert
7victimization, and may jeopardize public safety.end delete
8(c) Persons released who are homeless are left to the streets
9until morning, as most shelters close intake in the early evening
10hours.
11(d)
end delete
12begin insert(c)end insert Persons who suffer from mental illness or substance
13addiction arebegin insert sometimesend insert unable to access immediate treatment
14services following a late night release from jail.
15(e)
end delete
16begin insert(d)end insert Many California counties have reentry centers that provide
17a range of services and referrals for persons recently released from
18jail, however, most centers are typically open during business
19hours only, leaving persons released at night without these
20immediate benefits.
21(f)
end delete
22begin insert(e)end insert While some jurisdictions have attempted to address this
23issue, there is no standardized policy in place to govern release
24times.
25(g)
end delete
26begin insert(f)end insert County detention facilities in Florida, Michigan, Nevada,
27and New Jersey follow local procedures to release individuals
28around 6 a.m. on the day they are ordered released, with an
29exception made when bail is posted.
30(h) Personal safety is a major concern for prisoners released at
31night, particularly with regard to women released in urban areas.
P3 1Incidents of victimization following late night release are not
2uncommon.
3(i)
end delete
4begin insert(g)end insert Las Vegas Metro Detention Center in Nevada releases men
5and women during the day and night, however, women released
6at night are brought to a designated part of the city due to safety
7concerns.
8(j) Advocates and county staff in jurisdictions including the
9Counties of Alameda, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Mateo,
10have identified the late night release of prisoners as a serious public
11safety
issue.
Section 4024 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
(a) The sheriff may discharge any prisoner from the
14county jail at such time on the last day such prisoner may be
15confined as the sheriff shall consider to be in the best interests of
16the prisoner.
17(b) (1) Upon completion of a sentence served by a prisoner or
18the release of a prisoner ordered by the court to be effected the
19same day, including prisoners who are released on their own
20recognizance, have their charges dismissed by the court, are
21acquitted by a jury, are cited and released on a misdemeanor
22charge, have posted bail, or have the charges against them dropped
23by the prosecutor, the sheriff may offer a voluntary program
to the
24prisoner that would allow that prisoner to stay in the custody
25facility for up to 16 additional hours or until normal business hours,
26whichever is shorter, in order to offer the prisoner the ability to be
27discharged to a treatment center or during daytime hours.begin insert The
28prisoner may revoke his or her consent and be discharged as soon
29as possible and practicable.end insert
30(2) This subdivision does not prevent the early release of
31prisoners as otherwise allowed by law or allow jails to retain
32prisoners any longer than otherwise required by law without the
33begin delete prisoners’end deletebegin insert prisoner’send insert express
written consent.
34(3) Offering this voluntary program is an act of discretion within
35the meaning of Section 820.2 of the Government Code.
36(4) If a prisoner has posted bail and elects to participate in this
37program, he or she shall notify the bail agent as soon as possible
38and practicable of his or her decision to participate.
39(5) A sheriff offering this program shall, whenever possible,
40allow the prisoner volunteering to participate in the program to
P4 1make a telephone call to either arrange for transportation, or to
2notify
the bail agent pursuant to paragraph (4), or both.
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