Orange County Parolees To Get A Break
More than 1,500 parolees in Orange County may stop reporting to their 
parole agents under the same law that is releasing state and county prisoners early. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, there are currently 6,406 parolees in Orange County. Of those, 1,719 of them could be eligible for the so-called “non-revocable” parole. Story published in the Orange County Register.
Under non-revocable parole, recently released inmates in the state parole system:
- Would not have to report to a parole officer on a regular basis
- Can’t have their parole revoked by the parole board. Instead, a former prisoner who commits a crime would have to start from scratch in the judicial system
- Can still be searched without a warrant or probably cause by law enforcement officers
In the county’s most populous city, Santa Ana, that means that 338 of the 1,326 parolees currently registered there could be eligible for the new system. In Anaheim, 294 of 1,223 may qualify.
To qualify for the new parole category, inmates must not have a violent or serious felony conviction in their records. Those who are required to register as sex offenders would also not qualify. They must also not be a member of a prison gang. Inmates convicted of crimes such as misdemeanor spousal abuse, vehicle theft, prostitution or embezzlement may qualify.
Under the same law, more than 6,500 state prison inmates are due for early release this year and hundreds of inmates in county jails have already been freed early.
Officials with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said the new system will reform the state’s flawed corrections approach, reducing the number of cases each parole officer handles and allowing them to focus their attention on the most serious offenders. The result, they say: a half-billion-dollar savings to the state by the end of the year.
But local law enforcement – faced with its own budget challenges – oppose the changes. Before Jan. 25, when the new law took effect, all freed state inmates were placed in the parole system. They had to report to a parole officer, keep the officer abreast of travel plans and follow additional rules and restrictions. Any violation of parole could send them quickly back to prison — a decision that was made by a parole board.
Under the new law, those inmates who and deemed “low-risk” may be placed under a non-revocable parole, meaning they can be searched, at any time. But if they break the law or the rules of parole, they are not returned to state prison. Instead, they must be charged and processed through the justice system. The law applies to soon-to-be-released inmates as well as those already reporting to parole officers around the state.
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said in the new system may clog local courts with cases that were once handled by the state officials. The new system, Rackauckas said, is not reform, but simply a way to save money. But while the state saves money, the costs will be shifted to local law enforcement.
Non-revocable parole, says Rackauckas, takes away the penalties that released inmates were meant to follow: “It’s a parole that can’t be violated.”
CDCR spokeswoman Terry Thornton counters that the new law reforms a broken system. “I’ve seen someone in state prison on a non-serious offense do eight months, get out on parole, and spend three years back in state prison on parole violations,” she says. “We have to do something about that, too.”
Recent Comments