California Penal Code Section 6243

CA Penal Code § 6243 (2017)  

Primary offender groups to be dealt with in the programs established by this chapter shall be probation or parole violators who would otherwise be returned to jail or prison.

The following standards for selection shall apply:

(a) The Director of Corrections, or his or her designee, together with local parole officials, shall select offenders committed to state prison for placement in not less than 50 percent of the program beds established by this chapter. Eligible offenders shall be parole violators and felons committed to state prison who, after credit deduction for presentence incarceration and pursuant to Section 2933, would otherwise have served an actual term of six months or less in state prison. Offenders selected shall have a demonstrated history of alcohol or controlled substances abuse, or both, but shall not include any of the following:

(1) Offenders convicted at anytime of a violent felony, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 667.5 whether in California or any other jurisdiction for an offense with the same elements.

(2) Offenders who have lost work credits while currently in prison for an offense listed in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 2932, except for assault with a deadly weapon or a caustic substance.

(3) Offenders currently convicted of burglary of an inhabited dwelling.

(4) Offenders convicted on two or more separate occasions of violations of Section 11351, 11351.5, 11352, 11353, 11370.1, 11370.6, 11378.5, 11379, 11379.5, or 11379.6 of the Health and Safety Code for selling or transporting for sale, manufacturing for sale, processing for sale, importing for sale, or administering any controlled substance listed in these sections, or for attempting to commit any of these offenses for those purposes and who has served at least one term in prison for violating one of these sections.

(b) The maximum period of participation in a center program shall not exceed the maximum period for which the offender could have been incarcerated in county jail or state prison. Upon release from a center, a state offender shall be subject to the parole provisions of Section 3000. Local offenders shall be subject to all conditions of probation, if probation was imposed at the time of sentencing.

(c) The parole of an offender placed in a center following revocation of parole shall remain revoked during the period of participation in a center.

(d) Individuals eligible for this program who are deemed unfit for participation by either custodial or program staff at any time shall be transferred to a state prison or county facility to which they would otherwise have been committed and shall serve their remaining sentence minus the time served at the center.

(e) Except upon agreement between the county and the department, placement of state offenders in a center is limited to parolees on parole in that county and new commitments sentenced from that county.

(f) The county shall select local offenders for placement in up to 50 percent of the program beds established by this chapter. These offenders shall be persons convicted and sentenced to county jail, whether or not as a condition of probation, and who have a demonstrated history of abuse of alcohol or controlled substances, or both.

(g) State prisoners participating in these programs shall be eligible for work credit time reductions under provisions applicable to state prisoners committed to state prison.

(h) Primary emphasis in this program shall be toward parole violators and persons sentenced to prison or jail for short terms and for whom rehabilitation efforts should be provided.

(i) The department shall regularly notify the sheriff’s department and the probation department of a participating county of offenders placed into the program or released from the program established by this chapter. The county shall likewise regularly notify local parole officials of persons placed into or released from its programs set up by this chapter.

The sheriff’s department, probation and parole officials, and the Board of Prison Terms shall be permitted to recommend for or against placement of persons into these programs, as shall the judiciary of the county.

(j) Facilities may not serve as housing or parole or probation offices for offenders not a part of programs set up by this chapter.

(Added by Stats. 1990, Ch. 1594, Sec. 1.)

Last modified: October 25, 2018