Assembly Bill 109, the Jerry Brown-backed bill that relieves prison overcrowding and shifts responsibility of public safety services from the state to county level will begin unloading 700 prisoners on San Francisco County jails when it takes effect in October. Since there aren't enough cells in the county to handle that influx, many of the newly paroled inmates will fall under the auspices of the county's Adult Probation Department while they transition back to life on the outside. (Or at least to a Lohan-esque electronic monitoring program.)

According to a recommended Realignment Plan sent out by the APD this week, an estimated 421 state prisoners will be eligible for parole and released in to the community under the supervision of the Probation Department. Another 164 will be transferred to local jails. Because Uncle Jerry in Sacramento didn't want to saddle us with the total cost, the city is projected to get $5.7 million in state funds to help ease in the new parolee and prisoner population.

Meanwhile, in City Hall, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi and the board's Public Safety Comittee (just him and Malia Cohen) held a hearing earlier today. The supervisor intended to hear suggestions from other city agencies with a concern in the prisoner migration, including the Department of Pubic Health. Supervisor Mirkarimi's concern in the matter extends passed his responsibilities to the board, of course. If he's successful in his run for Sheriff, his new post will be saddled with a responsibility that his predecessor Michael Hennessey didn't have in front of him.

[PressRelease]