Your account does not include highlighter on images.
Searches Highlighted on Image
National Sponsors
| October 5, 2011 Indian Valley Record |  |
|
©
Indian Valley Record. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 1 (1 of 32 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
October 5, 2011 |
|
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader 
|
e
Vol. 81, No. 46 *
Feather Publishing Co., Inc. ° 530-284-7800
tl Serving Greenville and all of the Indian Valley Area
• www.plumasnews.com
• Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011
Ii
Dan McDonald
Staff Writer
dmcdonald@plumasnews.com
Ready or not ... here they
come.
On Saturday, Oct. 1, the
criminal justice system in
California began one of
the most drastic and contro-
versial overhauls in recent
history.
As a result of Assembly Bill
109, many felons deemed
"nonviolent" will be serving
their prison sentences in
county jails instead of state
prisons.
For cash-strapped rural
counties like Plumas, the
added burden could be
staggering.
Over the past several
months, the county has been
trying to scrape together
enough money and additional
manpower to deal with the
expected influx of prisoners
and parolees.
The sheriff predicts the jail
will fill up quickly.
The chief probation officer
is scrambling to hire extra
staff.
The understaffed district
Mona Hill
Staff Writer
mhiil@plumasnews.com
Feather Publishing re-
ceived a letter dated Sept. 14
containing responses to the
2011 grand jury's report on
Plumas County Office of Edu-
cation and Plumas Unified
School District.
Enclosures included an
Aug. 25 letter to Judge Janet
Hilde from Glenn Harris,
superintendent for PCOE
and PUSD, and an undated
document entitled "Plumas
Unified School District Gov-
erning Board Response to the
Plumas County Grand Jury
Report."
The 2010-11 Plumas County
grand jury devoted the bulk
of its report to findings and
attorneys of Yzce could face the
awkward :position of having
to decide which criminals
should go to jail.
The county's •health care:
system could end up taking
care of more inmates with
mental health and substance
abuse problems.
"The criminal justice
system as we know it is
undergoing some of the
most significant and radical
changes in our lifetimes,"
District Attorney David
HoUister said.
Holltster and Sheriff
Greg Hagwood have been
canvassing the county in a
series of townhall meetings
to inform residents of the
changes, and ask for their
help at the same time.
Hollister conducted the
most recent townhall meet-
ing Wednesday, Sept. 28, in
Quincy.
HoUister and Hagwood are
also members of the Plumas
County Community Correc-
tions Partnership Executive
Committee, tasked with form-
ing a plan to deal with the
inmate surge.
The executive committee
amine
recommendations for the
Plumas County Board of
Education and PUSD.
The civil panel reviews
county entities to ensure
accountability or in response
to citizens' complaints.
District's financial reserves
The grand jury reviewed
the district's 45 percent tar-
get for its financial reserves
and concluded the district
faces uncertain financial
times. Given the current situ-
ation, the report's conclusion
states, "signs point to main-
taining the current budget
courses."
School board's response:
"The Board appreciates that
the grand jury recognized the
importance of the reserve
and the difficult financial
"The criminal justice system as
we know it is undergoing some of
the most significant and radical
changes in our lifetimes."
David I-Iollister
District Attorney
includes Superior Court
Judge Ira Kaufman, Public
Defender Doug Prouty, Al-
cohol and Drug Programs
Administrator Mimi Hall
and Chief Probation Officer
Sharon Reinert, who chairs
the committee.
The committee has been
working on an action plan
that will go to the Board of
Supervisors Oct. 18.
To help cushion the
financial blow, the super-
visors have pledged to
transfer $1 million from the
county's Mental Health fund
reserves for inmate-related
mental health costs•
That's because the state is
giving Plumas County just
over $200,000 to pay for the
inmate realignment. Many
county leaders agree the
eventual costs will be much
higher.
The implications for
Plumas County may not be
fully realized for years.
Following are som high-
lights and statistics from
the implementation plan
compiled by the Community
Corrections Partnership
Executive Committee:
History of AB 109
Between 1973 and 2009 the
nation's prison population
grew by 705 percent.
In California, the state
prisons were operating at
nan ,
issues facin~cthe District."
Superim dent's response:
Harris' letter agreed with the
grand jury's conclusion.
Harris expanded on his
response, citing continued re-
ductions for county offices of
education throughout the
state and monitoring for all
local education areas within
its j urisdiction,
His letter added that PUSD
has developed a strategic
plan that sets specific goals
for its reserves. He wrote, "We
find this action extremely
responsible and thoughtful on
the part of district adminis-
tration and the governing
board. The use of an outside
statewide specialist three
years ago to conduct an
extensive fiscal health re-
view of both agencies was a
Ision,
wise decision."
Harris warned of deficit
spending beginning in 2011-12
that will accelerate in 2012-13
and quickly deplete reserves
if school trustees take no
actions "in the areas of
personnel, facilities, trans-
portation, and programs."
District expulsion and
suspension policies
The grand jury's report
found "school officials did not
have a full understanding of
the procedures or the purpose
of the 'Zero Tolerance' ruling."
It also found district action
did not comply with code
guidelines and time frames.
School board's response:
"The Board agrees that it needs
to improve how it handles
expulsions and suspensions in
more than 170 percent of ca-
pacity. And with a recidivism
rate of 70 percent, the prisons
were bursting at the seams.
In 2009, a panel of three
federal judges ordered Cali-
fornia to reduce its prison
population to 110,000 from
156,000. The official state
prison capacity is 80,000.
In May, the Supreme Court
upheld the federal ruling.
The court ruled for the
state to reduce its prison
population to 137.5 percent of
capacity by May 24, 2013.
The result was AB 109.
Elements of AB 109
Redefining felonies: The
definition is revised to in-
clude certain crimes that are
punishable by 16 months, two
years or three years in jail.
Serious, violent and sex
offenses will continue to be
served in state prisons. How-
ever, some offenders will
be put on probation rather
than parole supervismn after
being released from prison.
Local post-release commu-
nity supervision: Many
felons released from state
prisons beginning Oct. 1 will
m
general. Expulsion is one of the
most serious things we do as a
Board."
The trustees further
pledged to review their com-
munication of the expulsion
and suspension process, to
make policies accessible
online and to be proactive in
informing district employees
of revised policies.
Superintendent's response:
"While our appropriate
county programs are re-
quired by law to take in
students from LEA's (sic)
that have been expelled for
the duration of their expul-
sion, I have found no misuse
of the expulsion practice by
PUSD regarding the students
we have received over the
past three years."
Harris noted that expulsion
be subject tO community
supervision by an agency
approved by the Board of
Supervisors• The county's
understaffed probation de-
partment-is expected to fill
that role.
Revocations heard and
served locally: People who
violate probation or parole
will serve time in the county
jail (up to 180 days)•
Changes to custody credits:
Inmates will now be able to
earn four days of credit for
every two days served. Time
spent in home detention is
credited as time spent in jail.
As a result, inmates could
serve just half their sentence
in actual custody.
Alternative custody:
Eligible inmates will be
placed on electronic monitor-
ing instead of spending time
in jail in lieu of bail.
Target population: Inmates
released from state prison to
community supervision will
be the responsibility of the
county probation depart-
ment. These felons can have
serious or violent offenses in
See Transfer, page 7A
:ole
is not permanent in most cases.: ~- "'~
Students fror~¢other LEAs
(local education agencies)
often have behavioral con-
tracts and are allowed to
return to their home LEA
after a semester or two of
demonstrated improvement
in another educational
setting.
School safety policy reform
Grand jurors concluded,
given the procedural im-
provements in place as
of Dec. 10, 2010, that school
officials had acted to improve
school safety.
School board's response:
The board agreed and cited
PUSD participation in
Incident Command Team
See Jury, page 7A
Directors of the Indian
Valley Health Care District
are now accepting bids on the
old hospital and the billing
office properties.
They have a website up at
indianvalleyhospital.com, which
includes full access to the grant-
funded hospital reuse study
and the invitation to bid.
There are also photographs
of the properties.
The deadline for bids is
noon Friday, Nov. 18.
The minimum bid accept-
able will be $475,000, and any
bids may be rejected at board
discretion.
Mail bids to the Indian Val-
ley Health Care District at 184
Hot Springs Road, Greenville,
CA 95947, or faxed to 284-6573.
For more information, call
the district chairman, Guy
McNett, at 284-6526.
To subscribe to the Record,
call 530-283-0800
• Greenville High School freshmen and sophomores enjoy the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour Sept. 29. Especially fun was moderator E.J. Carrion, pictured with
them, who is a motivational speaker, author and aspiring rapper who is on a journey to help students succeed in a tough economy. Photo by Laurie Wann