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Brown: Amend Calif. Constitution To Secure Funding For County Jails

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — The governor of California wants to amend the state constitution to guarantee funding for county jails ahead of the transfer of thousands of state prison inmates.

KNX 1070's Charles Feldman reports Gov. Jerry Brown hopes to make sure funding to local law enforcement agencies that will soon share more responsibility for housing prisoners won't be hijacked by future legislation.

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"Because we're doing something new, we're in some territory that we're going to have to look at very carefully as we go forward," said Brown.

The so-called realignment program — which rolls out October 1st — will move many public safety programs from the state to local governments in order to help California cut down on state expenses.

Brown said the effort will stop the early release of inmates from state prison because of a court mandate to reduce overcrowding which will now send many lower-level criminals to county jails.

"This is a viable plan that, as we work together, will not only ensure public safety, but will fix a prison system that has been profoundly dysfunctional for decades," said Brown.

While the move may ultimately cut costs for the state, many local governments remain concerned that they might not have funding into the future to pay their increased costs.

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