California's county jails function like

county jails A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correct ...

throughout the United States: they are used to incarcerate people

pre-trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

, through a

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

and

sentencing In law, a sentence is the punishment for a crime ordered by a trial court after conviction in a criminal procedure, normally at the conclusion of a trial. A sentence may consist of imprisonment, a fine, or other sanctions. Sentences for mult ...

, and for some sentences of commitment. The majority of people incarcerated in California's county jails have not been sentenced (they are pre-trial and have not been convicted of a crime). Historically, time would be served in a county jail for sentences of less than a year, including sentences for

misdemeanors A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than admin ...

and some felonies. In 2011, the Public Safety Realignment Act was signed into law in response to the Supreme Court case

Brown v. Plata ''Brown v. Plata'', 563 U.S. 493 (2011), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States holding that a court-mandated population limit was necessary to remedy a violation of prisoners’ Eighth Amendment constitutional rights. Justice ...

and the resulting court order to address

prison overcrowding Prison overcrowding is a social phenomenon occurring when the demand for space in prisons in a jurisdiction exceeds the capacity for prisoners. The issues associated with prison overcrowding are not new, and have been brewing for many years. Dur ...

in the state. Realignment "shifted responsibility for all sentenced non-violent, non-serious, non-sex offenders from state to local jurisdictions", which decreased California prison populations, increased California county jail populations, and changed the types and distribution of crimes for which people were serving sentences in county jails. For comparison, in December 2019 there were approximately 71,200 people incarcerated in California county jails (based on average daily population), 124,027 people incarcerated in California state prisons, and 51,923 people on parole in California. Aerial view of Santa Rita Jail

California county jails

Rated capacity and average daily population reports from the California Board of State and Community Corrections were used to determine what constitutes a distinct jail facility for this list. The following counties do not have jails: * Alpine County: jail services are contracted to El Dorado County and Calaveras County. * Sierra County: this county does not have an official jail tracked by the Board of State and Community Corrections, but the Sheriff's website says that "as of March 17, 2015 the Sierra County Jail began operating as a Temporary Housing Facility".

References

{{Reflist

Jails A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...

Jails in California

California county jails

See also

References