More than 600 county officials involved in implementing public safety realignment around the state gathered in Sacramento this week to share best practices and learn from several panels of experts.

The conference, sponsored by CSAC, the California State Sheriffs’ Association (CSSA) and the Chief Probation Officers of California (CPOC), comes just more than a year after AB 109 took effect in California.

“I want to thank you for the work you’ve done over the past year, to take on new responsibilities” said CSAC President and Yolo County Supervisor Mike McGowan in his opening remarks. “You are demonstrating once again that, often, the best level of government to deliver services is the one closest to the people.”

The conference focused on a variety of ways different counties are managing the new criminal justice populations that now are in the jurisdiction of counties.  “By show of hands,” asked CSSA President and Nevada County Sheriff Keith Royal, “Who has all the answers?” Of course, no one raised their hand, but the question illustrates that counties can take many different approaches to manage realignment and no one way is going to work universally. However, realignment can help reverse high rates of recidivism and produce better outcomes – for the offenders, their families, and the community. “We truly believe we can do a better job of this at the County level than the state has historically done,” said Royal.

Butte County Chief Probation Officer and CPOC President Steve Bordin spoke of the significance of collaborative partnerships in this undertaking – not only across county departments at the local level, but also across the three associations jointly sponsoring the conference.

The Conference began on Thursday with a full day of panel discussions and presentations. It wraps up today at noon. If you weren’t able to attend, you can find the presentations and other conference documents online.