Prisons and jails: employment of inmates.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary text provides detailed information about the changes, but it does not specify all potential impacts on local governments beyond setting wage rates.

Prison and Jail Work Programs

This law changes how inmates in prisons are required to work from mandatory to voluntary, while also requiring local governments to set wage rates for inmate labor in jails.

What This Bill Does

• Changes the requirement for able-bodied inmates in state prisons to participate in work programs from mandatory to voluntary.
• Requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to develop a new voluntary work program for inmates, including rules and regulations regarding wages.
• Sets wage rates for inmate labor in county or city jails through local ordinances.

Who It Names or Affects

• Inmates in state prisons who are able-bodied
• Local government agencies responsible for setting wage rates for inmate labor in county and city jails

Terms To Know

Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)

The California agency that oversees the state's prison system.

State-mandated local program

A program where the state requires local governments to take action, often with financial support from the state.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill will not go into effect until January 1, 2027.
• Local authorities must create their own rules for inmate wages in jails after this date.
• If local governments incur costs due to these changes, the state may need to provide financial support.

Official Summary Text

AB 475, as amended, Wilson.
Prisons and jails: employment of inmates.
Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to require each able-bodied inmate, including a condemned inmate, to work as prescribed by CDCR regulations. Existing CDCR regulations require each inmate to participate in 8 hours a day of programming, including labor, education, counseling, physical fitness, and other programs, 5 days per week. Under existing CDCR regulations, an inmate who fails to participate as required is subject to a loss of privileges, including the earning of good conduct credit.
Existing law also authorizes a board of supervisors or city council, through an order, to require all persons confined in a county or city jail, industrial farm, or road camp, as specified, to perform labor on the public works or ways in the county or city, respectively, and to engage in the prevention and
suppression of forest, brush, and grass fires upon lands within the county or city, respectively.
This bill would no longer require CDCR to require each able-bodied inmate to work and, instead, would require CDCR to develop a voluntary work program and to prescribe rules and regulations regarding voluntary work assignments for CDCR inmates, including the wages for work assignments, and would require wages for work assignments in county and city jail programs to be set by local ordinance.
The bill would, on and after January 1, 2027, prohibit CDCR from requiring incarcerated persons, except as specified, to work.
By requiring local authorities to pass a local ordinance to set compensation for county and city jail programs, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.
The California
Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF