The sheriff\u2019s downtown Main Jail on I Street, between Sixth and Seventh streets, releases inmates 24 hours a day and is the facility where the majority of arrested people in the county are booked. Those booked at the jail may come from nearby locations or the far reaches of Sacramento County , which encompasses 994 square miles.<\/a><\/p>\n The Main Jail houses accused defendants awaiting prosecution and convicted defendants after their trials but prior to sentencing and transportation to a state prison. Inmates can be released from the jail after posting a bail bond, on their own recognizance, and other inmates are released after serving their jail sentences or because their criminal cases have been dismissed.<\/p>\n The Sacramento County grand jury report<\/a> titled \u201cSlowly Sunsetting Main Jail Late-Night Releases: Progress Made, but the Midnight Door Remains Open,\u201d which was released Thursday, focuses on the late-night jail inmate releases from 11 p.m. through 6 a.m. each day.<\/p>\n \u201cWithin that timeframe a discharged person may confront many challenges,\u201d according to the grand jury report. \u201cPublic or private transportation options may be limited or non-existent. Food and shelter options are limited. Additionally, physical dangers may be present. Late-night releases, therefore, raise a number of concerns for both the safety of the discharged person and the community.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2012 California appellate court case of Shoyoye v. County of Los Angeles prohibited \u201cover-detention\u201d in county jails throughout the state. That means county jails cannot hold inmates in custody longer than permitted by law, and the failure to timely release inmates can result in civil liability for cities and counties. California law dictates the process for inmate release depends on the type of release involved and the legality of continued confinement.<\/p>\n California\u2019s penal code permits sheriff\u2019s officials to release jail inmates at any time on the last day of that person\u2019s court-ordered confinement if sheriff\u2019s officials determine such release to be in the best interests of the inmate.<\/p>\n The state penal code also allows sheriff\u2019s officials to offer inmates to stay in custody for up to 16 additional hours or until normal business hours, whichever is shorter, so the inmate is released during daytime hours. The inmate can choose to decline the offer and be released as soon as possible or practicable.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s report on jail releases is following up on a 2017-18 grand jury report that criticized the Sheriff\u2019s Office\u2019s<\/a> frequency of middle-of-the-night releases of inmates from the jail.<\/p>\n The 2017-18 report found that of the 136 daily jail releases, 50 (about 37%) occurred from 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. The report recommended the county expedite its update of the jail\u2019s data management system, write updated instructions for jail staff and develop a written or electronic checklist to inform inmates of their options during late-night hours.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s grand jury investigation was based on interviews with management staff at the Main Jail and an organizer with the Anti Police-Terror Project , a local community rights advocacy<\/a> group. The grand jury also toured the downtown jail and its booking facilities.<\/p>\n The grand jury reviewed news articles, including from The Sacramento Bee , and internet sources about late-night releases from jail facilities, the sheriff\u2019s operational orders, procedures and handouts for released inmates, and reports from the Sacramento County Community Review Commission and the Sacramento County Criminal Justice Cabinet.<\/p>\n A May 2023 Community Review Commission report revealed that 27% of jail inmates were released from 11 p.m. through 6 a.m. in 2022, according to the grand jury report. This amounted to a total of 565 late-night releases per month, which was double that of other large counties with roughly similar overall release counts.<\/p>\n The current grand jury found that the Sheriff\u2019s Office has reduced late-night jail releases as a percentage of overall releases since the second quarter of 2023, when it was slightly above 20%. Sheriff\u2019s data showed that releases from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. dropped to just above 10% in the middle of 2024, but that number has climbed again to just below 20% in the first quarter of this year.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s end of night court on April 27 in Sacramento Superior Court <\/a>should further reduce late-night jail releases, according to the grand jury report.<\/p>\n The Sheriff\u2019s Office has directed jail staff to limit late-night releases through interdepartmental correspondence, the grand jury found, but mandatory late-night releases continue to occur to avoid \u201cover-detention.\u201d The grand jury also found that other comparable California counties release inmates at a lower rate during late-night hours than the downtown Sacramento jail.<\/p>\n The grand jury recommended that the Sheriff\u2019s Office should continue coordination with the court and jail staff to further reduce late-night releases, making necessary and appropriate adjustments due to the end of night court, by Dec. 31.<\/p>\n The grand jury also recommended that the Sheriff\u2019s Office should continue to regularly monitor and enforce the efficient and timely release of inmates throughout the day to avoid late-night releases to the extent possible and report its progress by Dec. 31.<\/p>\n The Sheriff\u2019s Office should look at Alameda and Los Angeles counties for more efficient and timely release to further reduce late-night releases in Sacramento by June 30, 2027 , the grand jury recommended in its report. Those two counties don\u2019t have criminal night court.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough late-night releases are reduced, and for the most part the prior Grand Jury\u2019s (2017-2018) recommendations have been implemented, there is still room for improvement,\u201d according to the grand jury report.<\/p>\n The grand jury is a 19-member panel of volunteers that serves the role of a watchdog group to ensure institutions of government are responsive and fair. The grand jury requested a formal response to its recommendations on the jail release report within 60 days from Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \n A report from a concerned citizen led authorities to seize drugs, cellphones and smart sunglasses intended for delivery near William Donaldson Correctional Facility\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \n Lorain County jail staff say blind spots, deteriorating infrastructure and overcrowding increase dangers for officers and inmates\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \n The inmate ran the fentanyl trafficking operation from FCI Beaumont, coordinating shipments from Mexico to Mississippi with a burner phone\n <\/p>\n \u2014<\/p>\n \u00a92026 The Sacramento Bee. Visit sacbee.com<\/a>. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Rosalio AhumadaThe Sacramento Bee SACRAMENTO, Calif. \u2014 A grand jury investigation discovered that the Sacramento County Sheriff\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-375133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"William](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782433396_89_.png\")
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