California State Assembly District 54 recently issued the following announcement.
Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager (D-Los Angeles) will demand an audit of the Alameda County, the Fresno County, and the Los Angeles County sheriffs’ departments when she testifies before the Joint Legislative Audit Committee on Feb. 26, 2020. The audit that she requests will be of realignment funds, money given by the state to counties to move incarcerated people from prisons to county jails.
“We must work to support the dignity and health of incarcerated Californians,” said Kamlager. “Access to data that is full and transparent is the first step toward crafting legislative solutions.”
Since the passage of prison realignment legislation (Assembly Bill 109) in 2011, California has sent more than $8 billion to counties to move incarcerated people from prisons to jails. Local governments continue to move prison realignment funds from one law enforcement purpose to another with limited state oversight.
More than 110 long-term jail facilities operate in the state of California. Conditions such as overcrowding, poor physical and mental health treatment and mismanagement of funds by sheriffs’ departments have become far too frequent. The efficient and responsible spending of prison realignment funds is critical.
California adopted Assembly Bill 109 in the spirit of progressive criminal justice reform. Without proper oversight at the state-level, there is little to no accountability for county sheriffs to ensure they are spending prison realignment funds as intended.
Original source can be found here.
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