A new California law that took effect on Saturday changes sentencing guidelines for people convicted of felonies. The upshot is that people convicted of certain non-violent felonies will serve their sentences in county jail rather that prison.
The purpose of AB 109 is to move California into compliance with a United States Supreme Court mandate that the state solve its prison overcrowding problem. It's also meant to reduce prison costs, which now take up nearly 12% of the state's annual budget, more than what is spent on the CSU and UC systems combined.
While convictions for serious and violent felonies and sex offenses will still require time served in state prison, other less serious felonies - such as theft, burglary, and certain drug crimes - will mean time in county jail. Other sentencing guidelines will remain unchanged, including the length of the term to be served.
Counties will receive funding from the state to pay for their additional costs.
Advocates for the new policy say that, in addition to reducing prison overcrowding and cutting back on prison expenditures, it will make prisoners less likely to return to jail or prison once they are release because they can take advantage of drug treatment programs and innovative probation programs that include work training.
Critics of the plan, however, say that the counties will not have adequate resources to house all of the inmates, which will result in early releases.
The new law does not impact current prison inmates, who must continue serving their terms at state penitentiaries.
