Community Corrections, Juvenile Justice plan presented

Mendocino County Facebook page.

State-funded programs aimed at reducing recidivism have taken a hit this year, and uncertainty about the budget lingers. And the county is looking for a new contractor to provide a sober living environment to recently released inmates.

The Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011 was supposed to reduce overcrowding in state prisons by placing the responsibility for adult offenders who would have gone to state prison onto the counties. That means low-level felons are now sentenced to county jails, often for lengthy terms, and supervised after their release by county probation departments. The state pays for it with realignment money, but the funding is not exactly the same every year, as Izen Locatelli, the county’s chief probation officer, reported to the Board of Supervisors last week.


State-funded programs aimed at reducing recidivism have taken a hit this year, and uncertainty about the budget lingers. And the county is looking for a new contractor to provide a sober living environment to recently released inmates.

The Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011 was supposed to reduce overcrowding in state prisons by placing the responsibility for adult offenders who would have gone to state prison onto the counties. That means low-level felons are now sentenced to county jails, often for lengthy terms, and supervised after their release by county probation departments. The state pays for it with realignment money, but the funding is not exactly the same every year, as Izen Locatelli, the county’s chief probation officer, reported to the Board of Supervisors last week.