A lack of communication, between Sacramento and some local law enforcement agencies, is being blamed for hanging up billions of dollars.
AUDIT HIGHLIGHTS: https://www.auditor.ca.gov/reports/2020-102/summary.html
To manage prison overcrowding, California began diverting inmates to jails in three counties: Los Angeles, Fresno and Alameda, and then last year and the year before, the state also sent collectively $6 billion to the counties - money intended to expand facilities and rehab programs.
"A lack of facilities to provide incarcerated folks with sufficient educational and exercise opportunities," says Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager.
Kamlager requested this financial audit on the money and tells KNX 1070 News Los Angeles County still has $1.7 billion of it in the bank, unspent.
The California state auditor’s report put much of the blame on the corrections board.
“The next step, ask them why they are not providing guidance to these counties,” Kamlager says.
The state auditor found essentially it wasn’t spelled out how the money should be spent. The inmates transferred from state prison to local jails were considered nonviolent who could be rehabilitated in a jail-like setting.