County sheriffs: release of prisoners: medical release.

Existing law requires the sheriff to receive all persons committed to jail by competent authority and authorizes a sheriff to release a prisoner from a county correctional facility for transfer to a medical care facility or residential care facility upon the advice of a physician, as specified, provided the sheriff gives specified notice to the superior court. This bill would additionally authorize the sheriff to release a prisoner from a county correctional facility after conferring with a physician who has oversight for providing medical care at a county jail if the sheriff determines that the prisoner would not reasonably pose a threat to public safety and the prisoner, upon diagnosis by the examining physician, is deemed to have a life expectancy of 6 months or less, provided the sheriff gives specified notice to the superior court. The bill would also authorize the sheriff to request the court to grant medical probation or to resentence a prisoner to medical probation in lieu of jail time to a prisoner convicted and sentenced to a county jail, if the prisoner is physically incapacitated with a medical condition that renders the prisoner permanently unable to perform activities of basic daily living, which has resulted in the prisoner requiring 24-hour care, and if that incapacitation did not exist at the time of sentencing or if the prisoner would require acute long-term inpatient rehabilitation services. The bill would authorize the probation officer or the court to request a medical examination of the person released on medical parole at any time, and to return that person to the sheriff's custody if that person no longer qualifies for release. The bill would require a county that chooses to implement these provisions to pay the nonfederal share of a prisoner's or probationer's Medi-Cal costs, as specified. The bill would not require a county to provide medical care for a prisoner or probationer ineligible for Medi-Cal if it determines that the prisoner or probationer can provide for his or her own medical care, as specified. This bill would require a county board of supervisors to adopt a process to fund the nonfederal share of Medi-Cal costs, as specified, before implementing the above-referenced provisions. The bill would require the county board of supervisors to notify the State Department of Health Care Services of the process.