A year since the passage of Proposition 47, county jail populations have dropped around 11-percent, or about 86-hundred inmates. That’s according to state figures from October of last year to March of this year. The measure has reduced a number of non-violent crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, including grand theft, shoplifting, check forgery, and drug possession for personal use. Nevada County’s population has dropped 8-percent, or from 236 to 217 inmates. Maximum capacity is 284. But the Sheriff’s Captain of the jail, Paul Schmidt, doesn’t see that as significant…

click to listen to Paul Schmidt

Schmidt says he hasn’t noticed any spike in local crime, so far, with more offenders spending less or no time incarcerated…

click to listen to Paul Schmidt

But jail population declines from Proposition 47 did not apply to all counties. Some housed as many people after passage as before, while other counties reported more notable decreases of at least 25-percent.