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Jail Alternatives
Early
Case Resolution | Community
Corrections Center
Pre-Trial Release
Program | Homeless
Court |
Sonoma
County will be exploring the following
New Jail Alternatives. These future
jail alternatives were recently discussed
at the January 2008 Annual Judges
State of the Union presentation by
the Sonoma County Bar Association:
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Early
Case Resoulution This future
Jail Alternative, is one which has
not been fully developed but is
being explored by a committee of
judges and county officials One
of the main goals of the program
is to prevent defendants from languishing
in jail thus, taking up valuable
and costly jail space. One of the
reasons that this program is being
considered along with the next two
mentioned below, is that it will
save tax payers, hundreds of millions
of dollars over the long-run, while
improving the chances of successful
rehabilitation. The county is pondering
ways to avoid the construction of
a new $300 million dollar jail.
The goal of the Early Case Resolution
jail alternative is to process those
defendants who need treatment and
desire treatment to get them into
suitable treatment programs sooner,
rather than later, thus, improving
their chances of meaningful treatment.
This alternative to jail would help
cut-down on the number of expensive
jail bed spaces and thus, would
delay the building of a very expensive
new jail facility and even more
expensive maintenance and staffing
of this capital works project. This
would again, save the tax payers
hundreds of millions of dollars
over the long run.
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Community
Corrections Center The
second meaningful Alternative To
Jail Program that is being seriously
considered for implementation in
the year 2008, is the Community
Corrections Center. This would represent
a wholesale change where, instead
of jail, a Correction Center would
be set-up and would be staffed by
treatment personnel, with a variety
of treatment programs in place.
The County is looking at about 210
beds in a facility such as the one
proposed. Honorable Judge Elliot
Lee Daum, and other Judges, together
with county officials visited similar
facilities in Washington County,
Oregon and Washoe County in Reno,
Nevada, and were impressed with
the results and cost savings. These
Jail Alternatives were praised by
not only the District Attorney’s
Office, Judges, Public Defender’s
Office and the Criminal Defense
Bar, but by County Officials who
believe, that these Jail Alternatives
would save the tax payers hundreds
of millions of dollars and prove
effective in treating those who
need and seek treatment.
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Pre-Trial Release Program
Similar to the Early Case Resolution,
this program attempts to get those
accused/inmates, into rehabilitation
as soon as possible so that they
are receiving the necessary and
appropriate treatment that they
need, while they are spending time
in jail, at tax payers expense.
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Homeless
Court This pilot program
is expected to be initiated in 2008.
This jail alternative court will
interface with the inmates who are
presently in the jails, who are
homeless, or close to being homeless.
The jail staff will work with the
inmates together with County Mental
Health providers and other professional
staff and probation. This Court
will work together with the Mental
Health Court, that will be established
in the Criminal Division. The county
already has an established Domestic
Violence and Drug Court which will
interface with the homeless court.
There
will be a great deal more information
about these up-coming programs when
they are officially operating. That
information will be posted on this
web page when it becomes available.
In the meantime, please speak to
your attorney about these new and
innovative programs that will be
implemented by the Sonoma County
Court System.
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The
sooner you call us in any criminal
matter, the better off you’ll be.
Call 707-568-7240 now!
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