The Senate Public Safety Committee held an oversight hearing,
COVID-19 in California State Prisons. The hearing focused on the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s (CDCR)
current and future plans for handling of increases in COVID-19
cases in state prisons, which has now spread to at least 19 state
correctional facilities.
In response to increasing court pressure and the growing number
of COVID-19 cases in state prisons, this week the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) will begin a
new early release process. Similar to the last round of early
releases, this new program will include several “public safety
screens” which exclude offenders:
The Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) Board will
meet Thursday, June 11, at 10:00 am via
Zoom/Teleconference. The agenda topics include an information
only COVID-19 update on Adult and Juvenile detention facilities
and BSCC inspections, training compliance and grants.
A Judicial Council working group
of 23 volunteer judges and court
executives released a 75-page
resource guide to assist the state’s trial
courts with their pandemic continuity of operations, while
providing a safe environment for court users, staff, and
justice partners.
Under usual circumstances, much of the County Family would have
met in person this week for CSAC’s annual Legislative Conference
and Board of Directors meeting. However, as counties across
California and the nation continue to cope with the COVID-19
pandemic, legislative advocacy continued this week — but in a
far different form than typical.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(CDCR) resumes intake from county jails this week. The intake
process from county jails began in a very limited and controlled
manner with CDCR only accepting offenders at the North Kern State
Prison and Wasco State Prison reception centers. Also, through
June 19, CDCR will only accept intake from the counties of Los
Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego and Fresno. CDCR anticipates
that no more than 200 inmates will be accepted from these
counties.
As counties work diligently to prepare local budgets in the face
of great fiscal uncertainty, we know there are many questions
about existing revenue streams. The economic impacts of COVID-19
are anticipated to result in sharp reductions in Vehicle License
Fee (VLF) and Sales and Use Tax, creating unprecedented times for
2011 Public Safety Realignment—the first year-over-year decline
in revenue for the Local Revenue Fund 2011.
As previously shared in the April
2 CSAC Bulletin, the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of
Justice Assistance (BJA) released a Coronavirus Emergency
Supplemental Funding (CESF) solicitation on March 30, 2020. The
CESF program provides funding to states, local units of
government, and tribes to prevent, prepare for, and respond to
the coronavirus.
The Public Policy Institute of California
released a report summarizing statewide jail population
trends in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not surprisingly,
the report explains that jail populations across the state have
declined—stating that between February 29 and April 11, all of
California’s counties reduced their jail populations by releasing
more people than they admitted.
The Judicial Council of California has launched the Pandemic
Continuity of Operations Working Group, which will quickly
collect best practices and publish a framework to help the
state’s 58 superior courts address interrupted services
in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The group, a roster of
22 superior court presiding judges and court executive
officers from a Judicial Council advisory group, plans to publish
by early June its collection of best practices and guidance from
federal, state, and local entities.
A decision issued by the Fourth District Court of Appeal in
Ayala, et al. v. The Superior Court of San Diego
County addresses the application of the Judicial Council’s
emergency rule for a $0 bail schedule.
The Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) recently
implemented a Supplemental Jail Profile Survey to collect data
from county sheriffs and chief probation officers on average
daily population, bookings, and releases related to the COVID-19
pandemic. The supplemental jail and juvenile detention profile
surveys are now available on the
BSCC website.
Tuesday, April 14, Governor Newsom signed a new
Executive Order related to the discharge and reentry of juvenile
offenders from the state Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ).
The order shortens from 60 days to 30 days the notification
period for a scheduled discharge consideration hearing given to
the respective probation department, the court of the committing
county, and the youth’s counsel.
At its April 6 meeting, the Judicial Council
approved 11
temporary emergency rules, including setting bail statewide
at $0 for misdemeanors and lower-level felonies to “safely reduce
jail populations” and staying eviction and foreclosure
proceedings to protect Californians from losing their homes
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Businesses will be able to “layaway” up to $50,000 of sales tax
liability pursuant to an announcement by the Governor today.
The deferral, which could come to as much as $3 billion statewide
and provide relief for up to 300,000 businesses, would have a
significant effect on county budgets, relying as they do on sales
tax revenues to fund 1991 and 2011 realignment programs,
transportation projects, public safety, and of course general
fund programs broadly.
