2,600 Jail Inmates to Be Released to Cut Costs

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said he will release as many as 2,600 inmates from county jail next month and place them on house arrest and in work-release programs in an effort to save $17 million.

Inmates who qualify are those convicted of misdemeanors; sheriff’s officials cited as examples domestic violence, driving under the influence of alcohol and minor weapons violations. Baca said each individual will be screened to make sure violence-prone inmates are not freed.

Some inmates will be sent home with electronic monitoring devices and be required to provide community service or enroll in educational or drug abuse prevention programs, they said.

“This is not a release to the streets,” Sheriff’s Cmdr. Marc Klugman said Tuesday. “We want everyone to serve their entire sentence.” Inmates who do not follow their prescribed programs will be returned to jail.

But a spokesman for Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo said that balancing the county budget should not jeopardize community safety.

“We think it is unacceptable and we think it will be disastrous for public safety in Los Angeles,” Eric Moses said. “We think the county needs to find a way to keep these people behind bars.”

The Sheriff’s Department has eliminated $84 million from its $1.6-billion annual budget and faces as much as $143 million in additional cuts next year. Releasing the inmates -- a fraction of the county’s 20,000 -- will save about $17 million by eliminating the need to provide nearly 9,000 meals a day, plus security and housing, Klugman said.

In a March 12 letter to county supervisors, Baca said he has “limited alternatives” and advised “this may be but one of numerous severe service curtailments” unless more money becomes available.

Baca does not need the approval of supervisors, some of whom have been critical of past efforts by the sheriff to contain spending. The release program will begin April 1.

A retired judge will be named to head a panel with authority to review and monitor the types of people being released “to ensure that only inmates with offenses that will not threaten public safety,” will be freed, Baca said.

Unlike under past programs, each inmate will be evaluated before he or she is released, said Karen Dalton, director of the sheriff’s Correctional Services Division.

To reduce jail overcrowding in 1996, former Sheriff Sherman Block released all inmates convicted of misdemeanors after they had served half of their sentences, Dalton said.

It is unknown how many inmates will be qualified for release under this program. About 1,400 candidates are being evaluated, she said.

The effort to reduce jail costs began last summer, when Baca began releasing hundreds of defendants being held in lieu of bail of $25,000 or less. If fewer than 2,600 sentenced inmates qualify for release, the sheriff could begin releasing inmates being held in lieu of bail of $50,000 or less, Klugman said.

Candidates will be screened for likelihood to re-offend, act violently or violate the terms of their release, Klugman said. Decisions will be based on criminal history, recidivism rate, education, mental health, living conditions and an inmate’s self-assessment, he said.

Authorities have found about 250 beds for released inmates through faith-based and other charitable groups, Dalton said. Others will live at home and participate in programs, such as working as trusties at sheriff’s stations.

The Hollywood Education and Literacy Project, for example, has agreed to provide literacy courses to inmates in return for help cleaning their facility, she said.

“If we didn’t implement this, they would be released anyway,” Dalton said.

Court officials said Tuesday that they were monitoring the situation. “The court shares the concerns the sheriff has expressed to the Board of Supervisors concerning the continuing budget crisis,” Presiding Judge Robert A. Dukes said in a prepared statement.

“The court will watch with close interest the continuing ability of the Sheriff’s Department to respond to appropriate requirements bearing on issues related to inmates who are in custody pending action in our system,” according to the statement.

The Sheriff’s Department announced last May that it would release inmates to cope with budget cuts and has maintained that policy since.

Baca is not the first sheriff to release inmates due to budget restraints.

In March 1995, Block announced the release of about 3,000 inmates because of budget constraints. The inmates released then were serving sentences for misdemeanors and “low-grade” felonies, such as drunk driving and burglary.

Block had repeatedly threatened to make such early releases as well as to close jails during budget battles with the Board of Supervisors.