Work release.

Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors of any county to authorize the sheriff or other official in charge of county correctional facilities to offer a voluntary program under which any person committed to the facility may participate in a work release program in which one day of participation will be in lieu of one day of confinement. Existing law requires that the program be under the direction of a responsible person appointed by the sheriff or other official in charge and that the hours of labor to be performed be uniform for all persons committed to a facility in a county. Existing law authorizes the sheriff or other official to permit a participant in a work release program to receive work release credit for participation in education, vocational training, or substance abuse programs in lieu of performing labor in a work release program on an hour-for-hour basis, but limits credit for that participation to 12 of the hours established for participation in a work release program, and requires that the remaining hours consist of manual labor, as specified. This bill would instead authorize a sheriff or other official to permit a participant in a work release program to receive work release credit for documented participation in educational programs, vocational programs, substance abuse programs, life skills programs, or parenting programs. The bill would require that participation in these programs be considered in lieu of performing labor in a work release program on an hour-for-hour basis, with 8 work-related hours to equal to one day of custody credit, and would not limit the credit received for that participation nor require that the participant perform manual labor.