Two years ago California embarked on a course that some call the most sweeping change in the state’s public safety system in decades.

In the face of state prison overcrowding, court-ordered reductions of the prison population and state budget constraints, California took action to shift responsibility for lower-level offenders from the state to counties. About 30,000 offenders are now being supervised in the community by county probation departments rather than California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation parole officers. In addition, new non-violent offenders are being sentenced to county jail, not state prison.

At the September 2012 meeting of the CCS Partnership, the board asked staff to prepare an article about realignment that could be made available to each association, for possible publication in newsletters or association updates. The goal was to provide all local officials with a primer on realignment and the opportunities for cities, schools and counties to work together. Staff prepared an article that appeared in the October issue of League’s monthly magazine, Western City. It has been re-purposed as an ILG-CCS whitepaper, available on both ILG’s and CCS’s websites.

Download the Understanding the Basics of Public Saftey Realignment – 2013 Whitepaper.