❒ Assembly measure would ‘give sheriffs more tools’ to fight crime, legislator says

Assemblymember Susan Bonilla’s legislation that would expand electronic monitoring of nonviolent offenders has cleared the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

Bonilla, D-Concord, is Benicia’s representative in the Assembly.

She said Tuesday that her bill, Assembly Bill 2499, was approved by the committee on a 5-0 vote.

Bonilla said AB 2499 would give California’s county sheriffs “more tools to manage our criminal justice system” by updating requirements for the electronic monitoring of nonviolent and non-serious offenders.

Sponsored by the California State Sheriffs Association, the bill would support sheriffs who want to expand electronic monitoring programs by making current law “more workable and consistent,” she said.

“It is vital our local law enforcement agencies have the tools and authority they need to ensure the public safety of our communities,” Bonilla said.

“AB 2499 will help relieve pressure on county jails while making sure inmates that need to be incarcerated stay off our streets.”

Bonilla’s legislation would let any county jail inmate who qualifies under rules established by a county’s Board of Supervisors be placed on electronic monitoring.

It would allow good time and work time credits an inmate earned in other home detention programs to be transferred to a county’s electronic monitoring program.

In addition, it would give a local law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction of the whereabouts of someone in an electronic monitoring program the authority to request the GPS coordinates of that individual.

Bonilla’s bill will be heard next in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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