Los Angeles County Sheriff to Increase Time Inmates Stay In County Jail

At the beginning of December 2014, former chief of Long Beach Police Department, Jim McDonnell was sworn in as Los Angeles County Sheriff. He replaced former Chief Lee Baca and inherited a county jail system in turmoil.

Overcrowding in Los Angeles County jails has resulted in the early release of prisoners. Over the course of the last couple of years, it has become typical for inmates to serve as little as 10% of their total jail commitment. On a second time DUI, the minimum jail sentence is 96 hours. Most defendants sentenced to the minimum are released immediately upon being booked.

However, rumors are circulating that the new Sheriff intends to shake up the system and keep inmates in jail for much longer periods, even for ninety percent of their sentence if the sentence is over 30 days. These rumors are unsubstantiated and there has been no publication of a change of policy yet. However, defendants should be wary of accepting a plea bargain including a jail sentence of thirty days or more on the assumption that they will be out after a couple of days. This may no longer be the case.

If the rumors are accurate, this change of policy places a greater emphasis on negotiating alternatives to county jail such as SCRAM or electronic home monitoring. Los Angeles DUI defense lawyers Gold & Witham have a long track record of negotiating for alternatives to county jail for multiple DUI offenders that keep them out of custody. Please contact us for a free consultation.