Baca to consult prosecutors on home detention

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said Tuesday that he would consult with prosecutors from throughout the county to determine which jail inmates should be assigned to home detention under a new law intended to help ease jail overcrowding.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week signed a bill that allows sheriffs around the state to send some inmates home as long as they wear electronic monitoring bracelets that alert officials if they attempt to leave.

Baca said he would like to assign as many as 2,000 nonviolent inmates to such house arrest, while keeping inmates convicted of violent crimes behind bars. Los Angeles County, the nation’s largest jail system, has about 19,000 inmates and has maintained that level by granting some early release.

Under the new plan, most inmates will soon begin serving 70% of their original sentences, Baca said, after addressing the county Board of Supervisors.

As recently as last year, most inmates served only 10% of their sentences. Earlier this year, the department started holding most male inmates for 50% of their sentences. The home detention will allow the department to increase that percentage further, Baca said, by creating more jail space for new inmates.

Because of overcrowding in women’s jails, the department still releases many female inmates after serving 10% or less of their sentences.

In 2002, the sheriff closed some jail facilities because of a budget shortfall and ordered his staff to release most inmates after 10% of their sentences. That policy meant that more than 200,000 inmates were freed after serving just a fraction of the time judges intended.

Increasing the time inmates spend in jail has been a concern for several years. The Times reported last year that inmates released early from Los Angeles County jails had committed hundreds of violent crimes during the time they were supposed to be behind bars.

Before the new law was passed, most inmates were assigned home detention only if they agreed to pay for it. Now, the Sheriff’s Department will be able to assign inmates to the program and choose which ones to keep behind bars, Baca said.

“Jail sentencing is so important when it comes to quality of life in our community,” Baca said. “I’m certainly going to reach out” to the district attorney and city attorneys and “ask how can they inform the Sheriff’s Department that this individual deserves time in the County Jail as opposed to electronic monitoring.”

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stuart.pfeifer@latimes.com