The California Legislature passed the Public Safety Realignment Act (Assembly Bill 109), which transferred responsibility for supervising certain lower-level inmates and parolees from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to
counties. Assembly Bill 109 (AB 109) took effect on October 1, 2011 and realigned three major areas of the criminal justice system. On a prospective basis, the legislation:
• Transferred the location of incarceration for lower-level offenders (specified nonviolent,
non-serious, non-sex offenders) from state prison to local county jail and provides for an expanded role for post-release supervision for these offenders;
• Transferred responsibility for post-release supervision of lower-level offenders (those released from prison after having served a sentence for a non-violent, non-serious, and non-sex offense) from the state to the county level by creating a new category of supervision called Post-Release Community Supervision (PRCS);
• Transferred the custody responsibility for parole and PRCS revocations to local jail, administered by county sheriffs |
2014/15 AB109 Budget Approach
On December 10, 2013, budget instructions for the 2014/15 AB109 budget were distributed to the Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) subscriber list, including Committee members, staff and interested parties, requesting formal submission preliminary budget estimates no later than December 27, 2013. This year, staff has request budget submissions to 1) maintain the status quo funding level allocated in 2013/14 for fiscal year 2014/15, and 2) contemplate new funding requests based on programming needs.
This approach to the budget is necessary due to the State notifying counties that the statewide 2014/15 AB109 realignment funding level will be reduced. On January 9th, The Governor released his 2014/15 Proposed budget, which, among other things, reduces base funding for AB109 community corrections programming statewide from $998.9 million to $934.1 million. There continues to be discussion regarding the allocation formula for FY2014/15; however, assuming no change to the current Contra Costa County formula (2.29%), the 2014/15 funding level will reduce County funding by $1,463,942, from $22,854,832 to $21,390,890.
As a recap, the fiscal year 2013/14 AB109 budget reflects a base revenue allocation of $22,854,832, ongoing expenses of $21,435,766 and one-time expenses of $1,815,150 (including $178,250 in start-up costs for the Pre-Trial services program approved after the 2013/14 budget package).
2014/15 AB109 Funding Recommendations
Departments have reviewed and updated, if necessary, 2014/15 budget proposals originally introduced at the January 2014 CCP meeting. Based on the proposals received and 2013/14 expenditures through January 2014, staff believes that departments and funded agencies will easily be able to absorb cost increases with no significant impact to services levels. Table 1 below shows mid-year expenditures compared to budget for 2013/14.
Table 1 – FY2013/14 AB109-Community Corrections Budget vs. Expenditures, as of January 2014
Note that only 33% of budget resources allocated to funded agencies had been expended through January 2014. This is partially due to implementation of new programs for 2013/14, which require time to ramp up (Detention Health, Workforce Development Board, etc.); however, expenditure trends in established programs are also trending below the mid-year average.
On February 14, 2014, the Community Corrections Partnership-Executive Committee reviewed and approved the 2014/15 AB109 Recommended Budget as illustrated in Attachment A. The Budget maintains status quo operations in anticipation of future impacts to the County community corrections allocation by the State. In addition, the CCP-Executive Committee approved a one-time capital allocation to the Sheriff's Office in the amount of $1.1 million for renovations to the West County Detention Facility (WCDF) and the Martinez Detention Facility (MDF).
Attachments
Attachment A – Summary of 2014/15 AB109 Recommended Budget, as approved by CCP-Executive Committee
Attachment B - 2014/15 AB109 Budget Instructions
Attachment C – Probation Department
Attachment D – Behavioral Health Division
Attachment E – Health Services—Detention Health
Attachment F – Public Defender’s Office
Attachment G – District Attorney
Attachment H – Employment & Human Services Dept.
Attachment I – Workforce Development Board
Attachment J – County Administrator’s Office
Attachment K – Community Advisory Board
Attachment L - Sheriff’s Office
Attachment M- Pre-Trial Services
Attachment N- CCC Police Chiefs Association
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