- Prop 36 will allow the DA's office to go after repeat drug and retail theft offenders and seek jail time.
- Sheriff Donny Youngblood says he doesn't have any room at Lerdo Jail for 'quality-of-life' crime convictions
- KCSO reportedly releases the 'least of the worst' on a weekly basis due to a lack of space at Lerdo Jail
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Voters overwhelmingly passed Prop 36 in November to add stiffer punishments for repeat offenders for retail theft and drug offenses, which were softened by Prop 47.
But if it involves jail time, where do you put them?
With a downsized prison system in California, even holding someone for a few days can stress the system.
I recently walked through the Maximum Medium security building at Lerdo jail, which used to house hundreds of inmates. Currently… it sits empty.
It's a similar story at the Mega barracks…
But now, following the passage of Prop 36, some misdemeanors are being reclassified as felonies again, meaning offenders will be facing jail time, or will they?
"I can't get behind it, won't change in the near future," said Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood, "it's the right step, but I'm not going to mislead the public. It won't solve the problem of not having jail beds without releasing felons."
Youngblood tells me there are more than 300 murder and attempted murder inmates being held at Lerdo, with more than 100 coming from the state.
And due to legislative changes over the years, beginning with prison realignment, followed by propositions 47 and 57, more felons are being released early.
"FEDCAP releases 100 plus felons a week, and they want me to lock up the misdemeanors," said Youngblood. "Every week, we look at the least of the worst and release felons. Now with the quality-of-life crimes, who is going to take them?"
Youngblood says re-opening the Max/Med facility and the 360 beds within would require dozens of new staff members and millions of dollars.
It was a topic that he and District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer addressed before County Supervisors in October, during comments in support of a resolution backing Prop 36.
Youngblood says his department has been hiring hundreds of new employees, but it's still not enough.
"We've hired over 400 people in the last two years, but are still not at full staff, because people quit, retire, or get better jobs. The city asks when will we have those beds, but there are so many moving parts," said Youngblood.
He told Supervisors that it would probably take close to 18 months to open the Max Med facility.
Assistant DA Joe Kinzel tells me they will be ready to start prosecuting those changes to Prop 36, the day after the election is certified.
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