Close a California prison, use revenue to support prevention

June 19, 2026

OPINION by OLIVIA GLEASON

The California Police Chiefs Association and California State Sheriffs’ Associations’ claim that county jails will have to “absorb the consequences” of an additional prison closure, as proposed by the legislature, is a misguided, offbase attempt to sustain carceral budgets.

First, California has over 13,000 empty prison beds and spends millions maintaining closed facilities. A state serious about public safety would not preserve thousands of empty prison beds and multiple closed prisons while underfunding vital systems that support prevention.

Second, the claim that prison closure burdens counties as a result of Assembly Bill 109 realignment — the 2011 law that shifted some people from state prison to county jail — is inaccurate.

In the case of LA County, the Sheriff’s Department’s own data shows that about 7% of people in L.A. jails are serving those sentences. The real drivers are elsewhere.

More than half of people in custody are held pretrial without convictions, and thousands with mental health needs remain jailed because the county has failed to create treatment beds.

This conversation is about waste, fraud, and freeing up dollars to be invested in areas proven to support community members not burdening local systems, which is not only disputed but preventable.

Olivia Gleason is responsible for communications for Californians United for a Responsible Budget – a Black-led statewide coalition with a mission to reduce the number of incarcerated people in California; reduce the number of prison and jails in our state; and shift wasteful spending away from incarceration and toward healthy community investments.