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State of the Jails in California, Report #3: Impact of Convicted Drunk Drivers on Local Detention Systems

NCJ Number
107136
Date Published
1986
Length
10 pages
Annotation
To determine the impact of convicted drunk drivers on local detention systems, the California Board of Corrections surveyed all California counties to ascertain the number of convicted drunk drivers in the jails, the type of facilities occupied, the availability of in-custody treatment programs, and the alternatives to incarceration used for this population.
Abstract
Fifty-six counties responded to the survey. The questionnaire solicited the number of convicted drunk drivers on a Wednesday and Saturday in June 1986. The percentage of convicted drunk drivers in county detention systems varied from a low of 1 percent in San Francisco and 3 percent in Amador and Del Norte to a high of 53 percent in Inyo County. Drunk drivers often occupy expensive jail housing, and there a very few in-custody treatment programs for this population. Examples from a few counties indicate that these offenders could make more productive use of their sentenced time. This could be done through the expansion of the work-in-lieu program (10 hours of public work in lieu of 1 day of confinement) and the establishment of in-custody treatment programs similar to those in San Joaquin and Contra Costa Counties. 2 tables and appended phone numbers for contact persons in various in-custody treatment programs.