Contra Costa Jail officials have confirmed that a bill which would allow for inmates to be sentenced to longer parole terms is moving forward through the state legislature.  The bill was carried by Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla.

If passed, it would allow county parole boards to assign inmates three year parole terms.   This would extend the current monitoring time by 12 months.  The bill has already been approved by the Assembly and has moved to the Senate.

Prior to the inmate realignment program, which has shifted low level, non serious non-sexual offenders from state prisons to county jails, these types of inmates would have been supervised by a state parole board.  Now these detainees are being overseen by the counties that convicted them.

The bill has reportedly been sponsored by the California State Sheriff's Association.

Contra Costa County Sheriff David Livingston said this will allow his office greater flexibility when it comes to managing the county's inmate population. Not everyone agrees.

The California Attorneys for Criminal Justice are opposing the bill.  They feel it is a "solution in search of a problem".  At the current time, their opposition seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

Contra Costa County jail officials say that more tools are needed in order to successfully manage the state's inmate realignment program.  The Senate Public Safety Committee seems to agree.  They have also passed a bill that will require the California corrections department begin to prioritize vocational training for detainees.

These classes are to be modeled around projected workforce demands and current job markets.   The measure still needs to be approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

It is unclear when the probation bill will be up for a final vote.  If passed it will likely not take effect until early 2014.  The matter is still being debated.