§ 538. Major Corrections Needs Assessment Study.

(a) A Major Corrections Needs Assessment Study shall consist of, but not be limited to, the following elements:

(1) Designation by the Board of Supervisors of an advisory committee consisting of a broad based representation of the local criminal justice system and the public. The representatives of county government shall include, but not be limited to, representatives of the detention administrator of local jails; the judiciary, prosecution, defense, county administration, public works (or equivalent), adult probation, city law enforcement; alcohol, substance abuse and mental health programs; a community jail alternative program, a designated, court-sanctioned pretrial release program, if any; and the public. An elected official, appointed public official, or criminal justice employee shall not serve in the category of public member(s). An existing committee may be augmented to meet the foregoing required membership composition or a new committee may be formed.

(2) Assignment of sufficient county staff to the advisory committee so that it can carry out its work in a timely and professional manner.

(3) Completion of a report as prescribed below.

(b) The advisory committee shall consider, at a minimum, the following topics and report on them to the Board of Supervisors.

(1) A history of jail needs and a description of current problems.

(2) The goals and objectives of the county correctional system and the specific purpose of jails within the county.

(3) The processing of inmates from arrest to final disposition. This shall include statistical analyses of intake and release mechanisms and of the time elapsed from intake to release. This analysis shall also profile inmates by demographics (age, sex, race, employment status), criminal history, adjudicatory status (pre-trial, pre-sentence, sentence) and indications of the use of the following classifications: inebriate, mentally disordered, developmentally disabled and juveniles.

(4) The ability of local jail facilities to provide separate housing for mentally disordered prisoners and persons detained because of intoxication which prevents mixing of these categories of prisoners with other adult prisoners.

(A) The existence of policies and procedures for screening, identifying and classifying inebriates and mentally disordered prisoners will be a documented part of the analysis. To the extent feasible, the analysis will include data related to numbers and characteristics of public inebriates and mentally disordered prisoners in detention facilities and changes, if any over time.

(B) Problems in the housing or treatment of these prisoner populations that would affect design of the facilities should be documented.

(C) The use of alternative housing for these categories of prisoners including a cost analysis should be part of the assessment work used to determine the extent to which the county can separate public inebriate and mentally disordered prisoners.

(D) A plan for developing policies and procedures, if needed, and securing space to meet identified housing deficiencies shall be developed.

(5) The degree to which the county has funded and utilized to the greatest extent feasible all reasonable alternatives to pre-trial and post-conviction incarceration including, but not limited to, programs of release on own recognizance, citation release, sentencing alternatives to custody, probation and civil commitment or diversion programs consistent with public safety for those with drug or alcohol related problems or mental or developmental disabilities. A county shall be deemed to be utilizing alternatives to the greatest extent feasible if it falls within the established measures listed under section 512 of these regulations.

(6) County population projections and projections of the incarcerated population based on 5 and 10-year projection periods. These projections should be analyzed to show the impact of potential changes in the use of alternatives to incarceration and of other policy changes. Also, the projections should be analyzed to ascertain possibilities of phased construction.

(7) The feasibility of regionalization or sharing use of the jail with other counties.

(8) Specific jail needs, including level(s) of security, program (including, but not limited to, medical and mental health care), housing and administrative space.

(9) Analysis of the existing jail to determine usability, remodeling potential, current compliance with the State's “Minimum Standards for Local Detention Facilities” and general jail maintenance as reflected in the annual inspection conducted pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 459.

(10) Analysis of potential site locations and the evaluation of available alternative jail facilities that are reasonably usable to address or relieve identified needs.

(11) Consideration of program needs, estimated operating costs for staffing, analysis of life cycle costs of the projected jail and projected operating costs of alternative-to-incarceration programs. All cost estimates will be considered preliminary and are expected to be refined at later stages of county planning and design.

(c) At a minimum, the information/data included in the needs assessment shall be current through calendar year 1986.

(d) The advisory committee shall submit its reports and recommendations to the Board of Supervisors for review, with appropriate action taken at a public meeting upon major policy options and upon completion of the Major Corrections Needs Assessment Study. The Chief Administrator may comment and make his/her recommendations independent from his/her role as an advisory committee member as deemed appropriate.

HISTORY

1. Amendment of subsection (b) filed 9-29-83; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 83, No. 40).

2. Amendment of NOTE filed 3-8-85; effective upon filing pursuant to Government Code section 11346.2(d) (Register 85, No. 10).

3. Amendment filed 9-28-87; operative 9-28-87 (Register 87, No. 42).

4. Repealer of subsection (e) filed 7-19-90; operative 7-19-90 pursuant to Government Code section 11346.2(d) (Register 90, No. 39).

5. Amendment of subsection (a) filed 3-1-91; operative 4-1-91 (Register 91, No. 14).

Note

Note: Authority cited: Sections 4496.34 and 4497.06, Penal Code. Reference: Sections 4497.02, 4497.06 and 4497.10, Penal Code.