Corrections Officials Push Detention Plan

Corrections officials are moving forward with plans to place a small group of low-security inmates on house arrest by monitoring their actions with electronic bracelets.

Officials will ask the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to approve a six-month pilot project to monitor 20 offenders, now serving time for drunk driving and minor drug charges in the county’s work-furlough program.

As with the furlough program, bracelet-wearers will be allowed to go to a job or school, but if they leave home at other times, a radio signal will alert probation officers.

County officials hope that the electronic device will help reduce the cost of housing and supervising inmates.

“The pilot program is viewed as a proactive approach to community corrections,” said Frank C. Woodson, director of the county’s Correctional Services Agency. “Many jurisdictions across the state have found that home detention is an effective approach to low-risk offenders.”