blog post County Jails House Fewer Inmates, but Over Half Face Mental Health Issues By Magnus Lofstrom, Brandon Martin Oct 25, 2023 While the number of people in California's county jails has declined markedly over the last decade, the share of inmates with mental health needs has grown to more than half of the total jail population.
blog post Falling Jail Populations Have Eased Overcrowding in Most County Jails By Brandon Martin, Magnus Lofstrom Feb 15, 2024 California jails have historically faced capacity issues that required counties to release people early. However, a close look at jail populations in the wake of the pandemic shows that overcrowding is now an issue in just a handful of counties.
Report Impact of Realignment on County Jail Populations By Steven Raphael, Magnus Lofstrom Jun 20, 2013 Has California’s historic public safety realignment shifted the problem of overcrowding from state prisons to county jails? This report finds that the shift of most lower-level offenders to the counties has increased the statewide county jail population but decreased the overall incarceration rate. The authors also examine county-level factors outside the direct impact of realignment that help explain variations in jail population growth. This research was supported with funding from the Smith Richardson Foundation.
Report How Has Proposition 47 Affected California’s Jail Population? By Sonya Tafoya, Mia Bird, Ryken Grattet, Viet Nguyen Mar 30, 2016 Passed by the voters in 2014, Proposition 47 reduced penalties for certain drug and property crimes. This change led to dramatic declines in the state's jail population, driven by decreases in arrests, convictions, and jail time for Proposition 47 offenders. This research was supported with funding from The California Endowment.
Report Key Factors in California’s Jail Construction Needs By Magnus Lofstrom, Brandon Martin May 7, 2014 Now that California has shifted responsibility for many criminal offenders to the counties, county jail systems face greater capacity challenges. This report highlights two important factors in addressing jail capacity constraints: aging jail facilities and long-term needs. We show that a number of facilities are old and likely in need of costly updates or replacement and that growth in the state’s population is likely to exert significant pressure on the county jail system. Our analysis suggests that a thoughtful combination of further jail construction and decreased reliance on incarceration is needed, given the magnitude of the current and future jail needs.
Report Pretrial Detention and Jail Capacity in California By Sonya Tafoya Jul 22, 2015 California’s persistently overcrowded jails are facing additional challenges now that public safety realignment has shifted many lower-level offenders from state prisons to county supervision. Jail capacity challenges are prompting a reconsideration of California’s heavy reliance on holding unsentenced defendants in jail pending trial—known as pretrial detention. The legal rationale for pretrial detention is to ensure court appearances and preserve public safety. But California’s high rates of pretrial detention have not been associated with lower rates of failure to appear or lower levels of felony rearrests. This report concludes that pretrial services programs—if properly implemented and embraced by the courts, probation, and the jails—could address jail overcrowding and improve the efficiency, equitability, and transparency of pretrial release decision making.
Report California’s County Jails in the Era of Reform By Sonya Tafoya, Mia Bird, Ryken Grattet, Viet Nguyen Sep 26, 2016 California’s county jails have been profoundly affected by several reforms over the last decade. Most importantly, in 2011, public safety realignment shifted responsibility for large numbers of non-serious, non-violent, and non-sexual offenders from state prisons to county correctional systems. This lowered the state prison population—allowing prisons to prioritize beds for more serious offenders—but increased county jail populations. Three years later, Proposition 47 downgraded a range of drug and property offenses from potential felonies to misdemeanors. The reduced population pressure has allowed jails to prioritize beds for more serious drug and property offenders who are no longer eligible for prison. Despite the growing importance of jails, little is known about the basic characteristics of jail populations. In this report, we analyze state and local data on individuals moving through county correctional systems. Using data from 11 counties, we find that: Reforms altered the offender composition of the jail population, especially among those held on drug and property crimes. After three years under realignment, the number of drug and property offenders in jails increased by 55 percent and 40 percent, respectively. One year after the passage of Proposition 47, the number of drug and property offenders fell by 35 percent and 13 percent, respectively. Length of stay for felony drug and property offenders increased after realignment. For example, median time served for felony drug offenders released in October 2011 was 45 days, compared to 98 days for those released in October 2015. However, length of stay for people who served time for misdemeanors and felony crimes against persons has remained stable. Releases due to overcapacity rose under realignment and dropped after Proposition 47, when jail population pressure eased. The demographic composition of jails has largely remained stable. But the age distribution does show modest signs of change: the share of those ages 18–21 in jail has decreased slightly, as the share of those in their 30s has increased. As jail populations shift toward more serious drug and property offenders, counties and the state will need to consider how jail security and rehabilitative programs might be made more effective. While researchers and policymakers continue to examine the longer-term effects of realignment and Proposition 47, it is also important to keep in mind that the recent reprioritization of jail beds may have implications for crime and recidivism.
Fact Sheet California’s County Jails By Magnus Lofstrom, Brandon Martin, Andrew Skelton Jan 8, 2024 The statewide jail population is significantly lower than it was before the pandemic. The population is largely male and being held for felonies.
Report Health Care for California’s Jail Population By Shannon McConville, Mia Bird Jun 18, 2014 The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has created a new opportunity for California to reach and enroll a medically vulnerable population—the jail population—in health insurance coverage. While inmates receive health care services from county jail systems while incarcerated, few have coverage after they are released from custody. Expansion of the state’s Medicaid program (Medi-Cal) under the ACA has extended insurance eligibility to much of the currently uninsured jail population. As a complement to the ACA, California recently signed into law Assembly Bill 720 (AB 720), which facilitates the use of jails as sites of health insurance enrollment. Increasing enrollment levels for the jail population holds the potential to reduce corrections costs, as well as improve public health and safety.
blog post Jail Bookings Down Significantly during COVID-19 By Magnus Lofstrom, Brandon Martin May 6, 2020 California’s “zero-bail” emergency measure, along with decreased crime and changes in local law enforcement practices, appear to have substantially reduced the number of people sent to jail during the pandemic.
