Jail Floor Set to Open, Probation Monitoring Intensifies

August 31, 2012 Updated Aug 31, 2012 at 6:06 PM PDT

Officials say it's too early to tell just how much of an impact the opening of this floor will have.

But for those who do get out early, the probation department now has a more intensified way of keeping track of them.

Sheriff Margaret Mims: "We are not overcrowded. We are prohibited from being overcrowded."

...And now, another floor at the jail is open.

It means another 432 beds, which brings the jail's capacity to 2,859.

Sheriff Mims says it absorbs the impact of inmates relocated to the jail because of realignment, and increases the ability to keep violent offenders off the streets.

Sheriff Mims: "Those who are arrested for serious violent felonies, and there's a whole list of those crimes, like murder, rape, robbery, carjacking. They don't get out. We keep them."

But for those who do get out, there will be a pre-trial program...

Probation Chief Linda Penner says it includes GPS monitoring of some of those early releases, and rehab treatment for others.

The county recently received a grant to aid in its efforts to keep criminals from re-offending.

Linda Penner, Probation Chief: "Even with those beds open, we will continue to have problems with capacity in this community unless we are creative and work very hard to craft alternatives to detention."

The issue of realignment has been a source of contention for law enforcement this past year...

According to the Sheriff's website, 415 have been released in the last 72 hours, with 70 getting out Thursday.

432 beds will be available at midnight.

But there's not a whole lot that's unusual about these releases.

Some posted bond. For some, it's time served.

But there are quite a few unsentenced felons that are now roaming free.

But county supervisors say that's less likely to happen now with the extra floor...

And there's still another one sitting vacant.

Debbie Poochigian, Fresno County Board Chairman: "We've got one to go. That last one is on us, on the board of supervisors."

Funding for that last jail floor is in the process of being secured, and supervisors hope to have it open by the end of the year.

Inmates and staff will be moving into the new floor Saturday, at which time, Sheriff Mims says, visits will not be allowed.