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San Francisco Fears State Is Underfunding Prisoner Transfer

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - A state prison overcrowding fix that places post-sentenced prisoners into local hands has San Francisco officials fearing they'll get hundreds of troubled parolees, and not enough money to supervise them. There was plenty of uncertainty at a city hall hearing on Wednesday as moving day approaches for non-violent and non-sex offenders.

The transition falls largely into the hands of probation chief Wendy Still who is expecting to take charge of 700 parolees on the first of October.

"I, and many others across the state are very concerned because their funding formulas do not cover the cost of this population shift," said Still.

It's not just a problem of simply providing jail beds, but instead money for services that help to keep inmates from re-offending: counseling, job services, housing and health care.

KCBS' Tim Ryan Reports:

"There is a concern that we will just fill up the empty cells that we have which as we've seen in California is 'if we build them, we will fill them,'" said Lisa Marie Alatorre with the organization Critical Resistance.

Local jail cells are expected to be fuller, with the recidivism rate in California at 78 percent.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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