Sheriff’s Office Affected By New State Budget

Sonora, Ca — The new $146 billion state budget that was signed earlier this week includes some cuts to local law enforcement.

?The first thing that jumps out at us is the MIOCR grant, which is Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction,? says Tuolumne County Sheriff Jim Mele. ?This accounts for $44.6 million (statewide), and the money is now gone completely.?

MIOCR was a partnership between the Sheriff´s Office, Department of Mental Health and Probation Department. It allowed the Sheriff´s Office to hire extra staff to attend to mental health patients incarcerated in the County Jail.

Cal-MMET was also cut by $10 million statewide, which helps fight methamphetamine addiction.

Mele says he was pleased to see that no cuts were made to Rural and Small Counties Sheriffs funding, which provides a total $18.5 million to 37 California Counties.

?We didn´t come out great, but it could have been a lot worse,? adds Mele.

Written by BJ Hansen