Fresno County jails: overcrowding: transfer to contiguous counties.

Existing law authorizes a superior court judge to designate the jail of a contiguous county for the confinement of a prisoner of his or her county when there is no jail in the county or when a county jail becomes unfit or unsafe for the confinement of prisoners. This bill would authorize a local law enforcement agency within the County of Fresno to transfer (1) prior to booking, a person who is under arrest and in the custody of that agency, or (2) upon a person's scheduled release from the Fresno County Jail due to overcrowding, he or she has been identified by the arresting agency as being at a high risk to reoffend, and he or she is the subject of a formal request from the arresting agency for notification prior to release. The bill would require, prior to any transfer, the governing bodies of the local law enforcement agency seeking the transfer and the receiving jail facility to enter into a written agreement governing the terms of the booking, housing, and transportation of transferees. The bill would provide that the County of Fresno, including its officers and employees, shall not be responsible for any costs, claims, or liability of any kind associated with or resulting from carrying out these provisions at the time of transfer, unless the Fresno County Sheriff's Office is the transferring agency and that all costs, claims, and liability would be the responsibility of the transferring. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Fresno.