Community Corrections Partnership to Host Realignment Conference

A coalition of agencies who serve Tulare County and are charged with the planning and implementation of AB 109 - The Public Safety Realignment Act - will host an educational conference for community leaders in March.

The Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) will hold the Tulare County Public Safety Realignment Conference from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on March 9 at the Visalia Convention Center. The conference is designed to inform an invite-only list of community leaders on impacts of AB 109 and how they can assist in educating their communities.

Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Allen Ishida said the conference is a proactive measure to ensure that Tulare County stays educated about current and future public safety realignment issues.

“The Board commends the Tulare County Community Corrections Partnership for putting together this conference,” Chairman Ishida said. “California’s Public Safety Realignment Act will have a lasting impact on all Counties.”

In an effort to address overcrowding in California’s prisons and assist in alleviating the state’s financial crisis, AB 109 was signed into law on April 4, 2011. AB 109 transfers responsibility for supervising specified lower level inmates and parolees - non-violent, non-serious, non-sex offenders - from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to counties. Implementation of AB 109 went into effect on October 1, 2011.

Since AB 109 implementation, 341 Post Release Community Supervision (PRCS) inmates have been released from State prison to Tulare County communities. Prior to AB 109, inmates were released under state Parole supervision. Now the inmates are under the supervision of the Tulare County Probation Department.

“The purpose of the conference is to invite and educate community leaders about the current and future impacts of AB 109 in Tulare County and discuss best practices to be implemented to prevent future offenses,” said Janet Honadle, Tulare County Probation Chief, and CCP Chairperson. 

Invitees include community leaders, law enforcement officials, city and county elected officials and management, and the court.

“We hope that by providing community leaders with useful information about the Public Safety Realignment Act they can in turn educate their respective communities in Tulare County,” said Bill Wittman, Tulare County Sheriff-Coroner, and CCP member.

CCP Executive Committee member and Health & Human Services Agency Director Dr. Cheryl Duerksen said County staff is prepared to assist conference attendees to go back to their communities and discuss AB 109 impacts.  “Educating our community leaders is the first step in educating our community,” added Dr. Duerksen.

Three guest speakers have been confirmed to cover the following topics regarding best practices:

- The Honorable Roger K. Warren, President Emeritus of the National Center for State Courts and Scholar-in-Residence at the California Judicial Council: The Principles of Evidence-Based Practice and Justice Realignment.
- Dr. Marie Van Nostrand, recognized national expert consultant in criminal justice and project manager with Luminosity, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in the pretrial stage of the criminal justice system: Using Evidence-Based Practices to Impact the Pretrial Population.
- Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko: Shasta County Experience in Jail Population Management.