Section 8051 Of Article 1. General Provisions From California Penal Code >> Title 9. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 1.
8051
. The Legislature hereby finds and declares as follows:
(a) Community-based punishment programs require a partnership
between the state and local government to provide and expand the use
of intermediate sanctions for specifically targeted offender
populations.
(b) Community-based programs must operate to punish offenders
while at the same time providing opportunities to change behavior.
(c) Community-based punishment programs provide appropriate means
of managing select offenders but should not be viewed as the only
solution to prison overcrowding.
(d) Community-based punishment programs target prison-bound and
jail-bound nonviolent offenders because this group poses the least
risk to the public and is the most amenable to the individualized
programming and services offered by community-based programs.
(e) Community-based punishment programs emphasize reducing local
jail populations, thereby making jail space available for new
commitments, parole violators, and probation violators who are now
being sent to jail and nonviolent felons who have already been sent
to prison for short periods of time.
(f) Community-based punishment programs must be financed from a
consistent, reliable, and separate funding source.
(g) Community-based punishment programs should be expanded
incrementally with a variety of pilot approaches tested to determine
their effectiveness prior to expansion.
(h) In order to effectively utilize available resources, to ensure
appropriate management of the local offender population, each county
utilizing community-based punishment programs must implement a
locally coordinated planning process.
(i) Since successful community-based punishment programs are
dependent on the coordinated efforts of, and successful working
relationships between, state and local agencies, the Board of
Corrections is the logical state agency to coordinate community
punishment efforts because of its extensive experience with
collaborative state and local programs.