BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1562
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 28, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1562 (Jeffries) - As Introduced: January 30, 2012
Policy Committee: Public Safety
Vote: 5-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
As proposed to be amended, this bill authorizes the Department
of Forestry and Fire Protection (Calfire) to enter into
contracts with counties where Calfire already operates fire
camps to establish county inmate fire crews for fire prevention
and suppression.
County jail inmate fire crew members would remain under the
custody of county correctional facilities. Work performed by
county inmate fire crews may be coordinated with the efforts of
conservation camps, though the county would remain solely
responsible for providing health and medical care to county
inmates participating in fire crews.
FISCAL EFFECT
Because this bill is permissive, there are no direct costs.
However, because current law does not appear to limit
contracting options, this bill, by limiting contracting between
counties and the state to those counties that currently operate
a fire camp, and requiring that inmates remain under county
custody and medical care, this bill could result in reduced
utilization of existing beds, or expansion to new beds, thereby
reducing state contract revenues, and increasing state and local
firefighting costs. While these revenues and costs are unknown,
they could easily exceed $150,000.
(Placement in a fire camp bed is about $46 per day ($17,000 per
year) compared to about $100 per day in a county jail bed. Local
alternatives to county jail, however, include community
supervision (generally electronic monitoring) that can cost as
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little as $10 per day.)
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author contends criminal justice realignment
will result in a significant reduction in the number of lower
custody inmates to serve on fire crews in Department of
Corrections CDCR)/Calfire conservation camps, and that the
state should do all it can to encourage the continuation of
fire crews as a public safety service as well as a
rehabilitation tool for inmates.
2)Author's amendments limit contracting to counties where
Calfire already operates a fire camp.
3)This bill does not appear to be necessary . Nothing prohibits
counties from contracting with the state for fire camps.
Moreover, Public Resources Code 4142 authorizes Calfire to
"enter into a cooperative agreement upon the terms and under
the conditions as it deems wise, for the purpose of preventing
and suppressing forest fires or other fires in any lands
within a county, city, or district that makes an appropriation
for that purpose."
CDCR, CAL FIRE, and county sheriffs are currently working
together on ways to maintain maximum camp capacity and
optimize firefighting capabilities. This bill, while intended
to assist in this effort, may be counterproductive.
4)Fire Camps . CDCR operates 42 adult fire camps with Calfire,
which house about 4,500 lower custody inmates who perform fire
prevention and suppression, as well as other emergency tasks
and conservation projects. CDCR carefully screens inmates for
fire camp eligibility, including offense history, security
classification, disciplinary history, and gang affiliation.
Fire camp inmates receive two days credit for each day served,
compared to day-for-day credit in the general prison
population. They receive higher inmate pay and training that
contributes to lower recidivism rates. The average sentence
for adult inmates selected for camp is less than two years and
the average time spent in a fire camp is about eight months.
According to CDCR, in an average year, fire camp inmates
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provide about three million hours in firefighting and other
emergencies, and seven million hours in community service
project work, saving state taxpayers more than $80 million.
According to Calfire, the cost of inmate fire crews is about
$144 per hour, compared with more than $500 per hour for
equivalent service from local government and federal crews.
5)Impact of Realignment on Fire Camps . In a February 2012
analysis regarding the CDCR camp program post-realignment, the
Legislative Analyst's Office projected that due to a smaller
pool of low custody inmates, the camp population will decrease
from about 4,500 to 2,500 by 2016-17. As a result, CDCR and
Calfire are reviewing options to fully utilize the available
camps, including contracting with counties and considering
revised state inmate eligibility criteria.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081