Sheriff Michael Hennessey, who runs jail operations, told a committee of supervisors last week that the money is needed because of a court ruling in Southern California that mandated that every inmate have a bed. The ruling forced Hennessey to open and staff a jail in San Bruno that he planned to keep closed, the sheriff said.

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For years, the probation officer operated like most of his colleagues in the department – setting up office hours at the Hall of Justice and waiting for those on probation to come to him for their court-mandated check-ins. But with a caseload of hundreds of homeless people, many of them struggling with drug addictions or mental illness and with their life’s belongings piled in shopping carts, Dill found getting them to come to his office wasn’t easy. His clients would frequently fail to report to him, a violation for which they risked being arrested and sent back to jail – after which they’d be released, put on probation again and miss more appointments in an expensive, jail-crowding cycle. So, Dill decided nine months ago, if his clients wouldn’t come to him, he’d go to them – on a blue, 24-speed Trek bicycle. Now, he spends every Tuesday and Thursday riding around the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods looking for his clients in alleys, in soup kitchens, in sleeping bags and wherever else they may be. Dill is believed to be the only probation officer-on-wheels working with homeless people in the country.

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While she was in San Francisco, she worked with the Sheriff’s Department to start a daily orientation program for inmates released from county jail to help them understand the terms of their probation and get connected with social services. She also started special programs for homeless probationers and people age 18-25 who are on probation, and increased the supervision of sex offenders on probation.

Woodford previously was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve as undersecretary of the state’s Corrections and Rehabilitation Department. Before that, she worked as the warden at San Quentin State Prison. Woodford told The Chronicle she has a couple of job prospects related to criminal justice policy, but she wouldn’t disclose what they are. “My real love is policy,” she said. “As for the operations side, it’s just time for me to move past that.”