More prisoners are being housed in Nevada County jails and being monitored by the Nevada County Probation Department under a new law that shifts state prisoners to county jurisdiction. To comply with a court ruling to relieve  prison overcrowding, state officials began to impliment AB 109 in October of last year. Michael Ortola, Nevada County’s acting probation Director, says he is monitoring three times the number of cases they were told to expect.
click to hear Michael Ortola

And Nevada County Sheriff Keith Royal says more state prisoners than expected are in the county jail.
click to hear Sheriff Royal

The Wayne Brown Correctional Facility has capacity for 276 and has been running  80 to 85 percent full.  Sheriff Royal, who also serves as President of the California State Sheriff’s Association, says some counties have three times the number of prisoners than what was  projected under AB 109.
click to hear Sheriff Royal

Many countys are saying the funding from AB 109 is not enough to cover the costs of realignment of prisoners.