October 2011

Senior Field Representative
Mary Blanco

Implementation of Assembly Bill (AB) 109 Affects SEBA Members

A frustrated and confused Probation Corrections Officer (PCO) called and asked the following question: Why is the Probation Department hiring Probation Officers when it has just demoted, in lieu of layoffs, several Probation Corrections Supervisor (PCS) I and IIs? PCS I & IIs were demoted in lieu of layoffs because of the closure of the West Valley Juvenile Detention & Assessment Center (WVJDAC). The closure of WVJDAC was due to budgetary reasons and resulted in excess supervisory staff in the Detention Corrections Bureau. The Probation Department is currently in the process of hiring additional probation officers needed for the implementation of Assembly Bill (AB) 109. The provisions of AB 109 will take effect on October 1, 2011, and will have a significant impact on the Probation Department, Community Corrections Bureau. SEBA does not represent the probation officers that will be impacted by this bill. However, the Supervising Probation Officers are SEBA members. Implementation of this bill will also affect members in the Sheriff’s Department and in the District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation.

First, what is AB 109? It’s called the Public Safety Realignment Act. AB 109 mandates all of the state’s prisons to reduce the number of inmates to 137.5% of intended capacity by May 24, 2013, as ordered by the United States Supreme Court. To achieve this goal, this bill will transfer responsibility for supervision of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) parolees classified as “low level or low risk” offenders from the state to the local level. These CDCR parolees titled “Post Release Community Supervision” or PRCS offenders will be released back to the county where they were originally sentenced. In order to be classified a PRCS offender, the parolee’s current offense must have been determined to be non-serious, non-violent, and non-sex related. It is important to note that although these PRCS offenders were deemed to be “low level or low risk” by the CDCR, this classification was based on their current committing offense. It does not take into consideration their previous criminal history, gang involvement, prior violence etc.

Second, AB 109 also provides for the adjudication of parole violations by PRCS offenders at the local level, and prevents PRCS offenders from being sent to state prison for violating their terms and conditions of parole /probation. Effective October 1, 2011, parole revocation hearings will no longer be held at the California Institution for Men. All parole revocation hearings will be held at the West Valley Detention Center. AB 109 authorizes a Probation Officer to incarcerate a PRCS offender for parole revocations in the county jail for up to ten (10) days without a court hearing. Parole revocations will be served in the county jail for a maximum of one hundred and eighty (180) days.

Third, no inmates currently in prison will be transferred to county jails. However, newly sentenced offenders determined to be “non-violent, non-serious, and non-sexual” will serve their time in county jail rather than state prison. This will have a significant impact on the Sheriff’s Department Bureau of Detention and Corrections, requiring additional safety members for housing, processing, feeding, and providing out of custody supervision for these additional inmates. The retention of additional inmates will also create an enhanced need for alternative custody programs. The Work Release program will require additional staff and expansion. Training will most likely be needed to assist safety members in dealing with a different inmate population.

The plan is to substantially improve on the state’s recidivism rate of seventy (70%). However, even the most effective rehabilitation program cannot eliminate recidivism. Therefore, it can be expected that additional criminal cases generated by a new population of felons who are out of custody will have an immediate impact on the District Attorney’s office requiring additional staffing for increased workloads.

Last, I want to thank Michelle Scray, Chief Probation Officer, for delivering an informative presentation on Assembly Bill 109 at the SEBA Board of Directors September 2011 conference. Chief Scray described AB 109 in detail and informed the Board how its implementation would affect the Probation Department. Thanks to her presentation and a handout provided by her office, I was able to provide that information to our members.