AB 920: Jails: county inmate welfare funds.

Existing law authorizes the sheriff of each county to maintain an inmate welfare fund to be kept in the treasury of the county into which profit from a store operated in connection with the county jail, 10% of all gross sales of inmate hobbycraft, and any rebates or commissions received from a telephone company, as specified, are required to be deposited. Existing law authorizes the sheriff to expend money from the fund to assist indigent inmates, prior to release, with clothes and transportation expenses, as specified. Existing law authorizes inmate welfare funds to be used to augment county expenses determined by the sheriff to be in the best interests of the inmates, and requires the sheriff to submit an itemized report of those expenditures annually to the board of supervisors.

This bill would create a program that authorizes the sheriff or county officer responsible for operating jails of certain counties to spend money from the inmate welfare fund for the purpose of assisting indigent inmates with the reentry process within 30 days after the inmates release from the county jail or other adult detention facility. The bill would specify that the assistance provided may include work placement, counseling, obtaining proper identification, education, and housing. The bill would specify that money from the inmate welfare fund shall not be used under the program to provide services that are required to be provided by the sheriff or county, as specified. The bill would require, if a county elects to participate in the pilot program, a county sheriff or county officer responsible for operating a jail to include specified additional information in the itemized report of expenditures to the board of supervisors, including the number of inmates the program served.

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the counties described above.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.