Local law enforcement readies for influx of state inmates

To save money, the state is shifting responsibility for some prisoners to local jails

By Dana Littlefield
3 p.m., July 4, 2011

How state's inmate plan works

• No inmates currently in state prison will be released early.

• All felons sent to state prison will continue to serve their entire sentence.

• All felons convicted of a serious or violent offense — including sex offenders and child molesters — will go to state prison.

• Felons not eligible for state prison can serve their sentence at the local level.

Source: Governor’s Office

SAN DIEGO — In just three months, Superior Court judges will start sending low-level felony offenders to county jail, instead of state prison, and law enforcement officials here are bracing for the event.

Some say the state’s decision to require local jails to house and supervise certain nonviolent criminals — one of the cost-saving measures used to balance the state budget by July 1 — is the biggest change to the local criminal justice system in at least 25 years.

“This is a major shift in public safety in the state of California,â€