LA Times has an article today talking about the failure of Sheriff Baca's home imprisonment program instituted several years ago and why it is a failure.

"When they calculated how many inmates might be eligible for the program, sheriff's officials thought large numbers of nonviolent, low-security inmates suitable for home detention were in the jails. But their calculation took into account only the current charges inmates were being held on, officials concede. Once they reviewed the criminal histories of inmates, officials said they found many had serious or violent records that made them ineligible for home detention. "The myth of the low-security, nonviolent offender in jail is just that: a myth," said sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore"

AND

"In 2007, when the new law took effect, 413 offenders were on voluntary home detention. Last week, 394 were under voluntary or involuntary home detention.

Lt. Kevin Kuykendall, who oversees the program at the downtown Inmate Reception Center, said deputies have struggled to find the sort of inmates suitable for release because the jail's population is increasingly made up of offenders with lengthy criminal records.

"We were really gung-ho about getting it done and clearing people out," Kuykendall said. "These inmates just aren't qualifying."

Why We Need Big Jails

Exactly the problem Texas faced in 1991 when some state officials blamed the prison overcrowding problem on prosecutors who were filling up the prison with hot-check writers and sock thieves.

Once The Texas Criminal Justice Policy Council completed its ground-breaking study, that old argument was put to bed in Texas.

I expect we will hear versions of that old argument everywhere during the fiscal pinch.