Public Safety Realignment Act

The Public Safety Realignment Act (Assembly Bill 109) was signed into law by the Governor on April 5, 2011, and amended by Assembly Bill 117 on June 30, 2011. This legislation specifies new responsibilities for managing adult offenders in California, and obligates counties to develop and recommend a Realignment Plan through the Community Corrections Partnership (CCP), a group created in connection with prior criminal justice legislation. The public safety realignment, which will begin October 1, 2011, is financed according to AB 118. Certain prison inmates (known as the Post-Release Community Supervision population, or PRCS), will be released to the supervision of a county agency in the county of last residence (rather than under the supervision of state parole. The prison inmates who will constitute the PRCS population will be those who were incarcerated for an offense classified as non-violent and non-serious, and will exclude high risk sex offenders, third-strike offenders, and mentally disordered offenders.

AB 109 also changes the penal code and sentencing laws so that offenders whose current or past offenses are non-violent, non-serious, or non-sex related, will serve their sentences locally (so-called “non-non-non” offenders). It is anticipated that local sentences will include combinations of county jail detention, probation supervision, and a variety of detention alternatives.

Finally, most parole and PRCS revocations will no longer be served in state prison. All parole revocations, other than those for inmates with life terms, will be served in county jail, and be limited to 180 days. Additionally, the legislation mandates the Court as the body responsible for parole and PRCS revocation hearings, rather than the Board of Parole Hearings.