(a) In any case in which a woman offender can be sentenced to imprisonment in the county jail, or be required to serve a term of imprisonment therein as a condition of probation, or has already been so sentenced or imprisoned, the court which tried the offender may, with the consent of the offender and on application of the sheriff or on its own motion, with the consent of the offender, commit the offender to the sheriff with directions for placement in the California Institution for Women in lieu of placement in the county jail if the court finds that the local detention facilities are inadequate for the rehabilitation of the offenders and if the court concludes that the offender will benefit from that treatment and care as is available at that institution and the county has entered into a contract with the state under subdivision (b). The offenders may be received by the Director of Corrections and imprisoned in the California Institution for Women in accordance with the commitment of the court by which tried. The prisoners so confined shall be subject in all respects to discipline, diagnosis, and treatment as though committed under the laws of this state concerning felony prisoners.
(b) The Director of Corrections may enter into contracts, with the approval of the Director of General Services, with any county in this state, upon request of the board of supervisors thereof, wherein the Department of Corrections agrees to furnish diagnosis and treatment services and detention for selected women county prisoners. The county shall reimburse the state for the cost of the services, the cost to be determined by the Director of Finance. In any contract entered into pursuant to this subdivision, the county shall agree to pay that amount which is reasonably necessary for payment of an allowance to each released or paroled prisoner for transportation to the prisoner’s county of residence or county where employment is available, and may agree to provide suitable clothing and a cash gratuity to the prisoners in the event that they are discharged from that institution because of parole or completion of the term for which they were sentenced. Each county auditor shall include in his state settlement report rendered to the Controller in the months of January and June the amounts due under any contract authorized by this section, and the county treasurer, at the time of settlement with the state in those months, shall pay to the State Treasurer upon order of the Controller, the amounts found to be due.
(c) The Department of Corrections shall accept the women county prisoners if it believes that they can be materially benefited by the confinement, care, treatment and employment and if adequate facilities to provide the care are available. None of those persons shall be transported to any facility under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections until the director has notified the referring court that the person may be transported to the California Institution for Women and the time at which she can be received.
(d) The sheriff of the county in which an order is made placing a woman county prisoner pursuant to this section, or any other peace officer designated by the court, shall execute the order placing the person in the institution or returning her therefrom to the court. The expenses of the peace officer incurred in executing the order is a charge upon the county in which the court is situated.
(e) The Director of Corrections may return to the committing authority any woman prisoner transferred pursuant to this section when that person is guilty of any violation of rules and regulations of the California Institution for Women or the Department of Corrections.
(f) No woman prisoner placed in the California Institution for Women pursuant to this section shall thereafter be deemed to have been guilty of a felony solely by virtue of such placement, and she shall have the same rights to parole and to time off for good behavior as she would have had if she had been confined in the county jail.
(Amended by Stats. 1981, Ch. 714, Sec. 335.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018