Abstract

Part Time Jail

The Santa Clara County plan is based on Wisconsin's "Huber Plan," which, has been in effect for sixteen years and has reached the point where as many as half the prisoners in a Wisconsin county jail may be out working during the day. In Santa Clara County, California, though, the program still moves forward with caution. The three-main parole board-the police chief of tile city of San Jose, plus the county's sheriff and district' attorney-started the program with four prisoners. The program, simple in concept, is carried out with great care and attention to detail. Narcotics or sex offenders are automatically excluded, the beneficiaries so far have been misdemeanor offenders-traffic violators, mostly, or men who failed' to provide for families. Their civilian work and credit records are exactingly checked.