A key committee recommended today that Sacramento County spend $6 million of its "realignment" money from the state to open a 275-bed wing in the jail system to accommodate inmates who otherwise would be in the California prison system.
The 4-3 vote in favor of of the jail bed plan came after an at-times heated exchange between Sheriff Scott Jones, who wanted the beds, and Chief Probation Officer Don Meyer, who thought more money should be allocated for inmate rehabilitation programs.
"What if you're wrong?" Jones shouted at Meyer at one point in today's debate at the meeting of the Community Corrections Partnership Committee.
"What if you're wrong?" Meyer shot back.
Sacramento police chief Rick Braziel, district attorney's representative Cindy Besemer and Superior Court Presiging Judge-elect Laurie M. Earl sided with Jones in voting to spend the $6 million to reopen the Roger Bauman Facility at the jail system's Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center.
Public Defender Paulio Duran and Countywide Services Agency administrator Bruce Wagstaff voted with Meyer against the jail proposal.
The state has allocated $13.1 million to Sacramento County as part of Gov. Jerry Brown's realignment plan, approved by the Legislature, to divert tens of thousands of non-serious, non-violent, non-sexual offenders out of the prison system and back to the counties.
Committee members already have voted to spend $4.2 million on a day-reporting center to be run by the Probation Department, $1.9 million on an expanded electronic monitoring and home detention program, $500 on inmate assessments and another $500,000 on a supervised release program for jail detainees awaiting trial.
Today's recommendation still needs approval from the Board of Supervisors before the plan can take effect. The Supervisors' vote is scheduled for Nov. 1.
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