Sonoma County Bracing for Revamp of Criminal Justice System

Sonoma County is bracing for one of the biggest changes to the criminal justice system in the state’s history, a move that will send non-violent criminals as well as parolees to local jails starting this fall.

It’s known as realignment and is comprised of a series of bills signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown in July in response to a Supreme Court order to reduce crowding in California prisons.

The goal is to reduce the state’s high recidivism rate—about 70 percent—by keeping non-violent offenders who’ve violated their probation out of state prisons, where they are more likely to become hardened criminals, and closer to home.

Last year, for example, 47,000 inmates served 90 days or less in California prisons, according to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Each time an inmate is processed, they receive a physical exam and gang affiliation and mental health screenings, putting a strain on the state prison system.

“The hope is that instead of staying in prison, people will be released sooner and put on an alternative program that will give them treatment options that will be better for them in the long run,” said Lt. Mike Toby, who is overseeing realignment for the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office. “If Sonoma County is committed to getting people rehabilitated, this is an excellent opportunity to do that.”

The changes applies to inmates who have already served their time and are eligible for parole. It also only applies to new offenders whose crimes are non-violent and non-sexual, such as vehicle theft, drug sales, battery and second-degree burglary. Violent offenders will continue to be supervised by state parole.

To prepare for the change, Sonoma County Jail will be hiring more staff, assisted by money from the state. Toby could not provide exact details, but said counties would receive funding through a one-time appropriation of $25 million, along with a 1 percent state sales tax and vehicle license fees.

“We are still trying to determine timelines and how and when we will bring in more staffing,” Toby said.

The revamp is comprehensive and will touch all areas of the criminal justice system from the Sheriff to the District Attorney’s Office to providers of mental health, substance abuse and other treatment programs.

Reached this week, Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch said her office was just forming a committee to discuss the Community Corrections Partnership and would start holding meetings on the issue.

“It will be some time before we implement changes,” Ravitch said.

Under the plan, the partnership will develop an implementation plan they will recommend to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors later this year. 

Part of the partnership is the Sonoma County Adult Probation where officials are anticipating a spike in hiring to meet the influx of new inmates being released. But more importantly, they say realignment is the first time the state will give sustained funding to incarceration alternative programs.

"There aren’t many people who go to prison and come out a better person," said Sheralynn Freitas, deputy chief probation officer for Sonoma County. "So to have fewer go and instead have incentive based programming, we will, unquestioningly, have better outcomes."

Under the plan, inmates will also have a chance to significantly reduce their sentences by doing various programs such as domestic violence or drug classes and then be aggressively supervised upon release, Freitas explained. 

Not surprisingly, law enforcement is also eyeing the new mandate, which will release an estimated 30,000 inmates from state prisons into county jurisdictions across California.

“Undoubtedly, there will be a trickle down effect,” said Paul Gilman, president of the Peace Officers Association of Petaluma. “Crime has dropped in recent years, so maybe putting those people in prison was the right thing to do. If they are saying that 30,000 will be released and you have a 70 percent recidivism rate, that’s 21,000 people who are going to be back on the streets and potentially committing new offenses.”

The move will increase workloads for county probation officers, who are going to be relying more on police to be their eyes and ears, Gilman said. At the same time, the Petaluma Police Department has lost 16 officers in the past three years.

“Realistically, we’re just going to have to be reactive,” Gilman said. “We’ll handle it, but we also don’t know who these people are or where they are coming from. We can try to perceive what’s going to happen, but we don’t know for sure.”