Everyone likes a “Win-Win” situation—a solution to a problem that meets everyone’s needs. In Tehama County, they had a problem, and the solution they came up with has been a “win” on several levels. The AB 109 Auto Shop won a 2013 CSAC Challenge Award because it is reducing the jail population, training inmates, saving money for the Sheriff’s Department AND reducing costs and downtime for other county departments when their vehicles need maintenance and repairs. Here’s how it works.

A couple of years ago, Tehama County Sheriff Dave Hencratt needed to reduce his jail population and find ways to reduce recidivism in his community. This was all part of AB 109—Public Safety Realignment—a state law that transferred a significant number of low-risk criminal offenders from state jurisdiction to the counties.