(a) Notwithstanding any other law, the board of supervisors of any county in which the average daily inmate population is 90 percent of the county’s correctional system’s mandated capacity may authorize the sheriff or other official in charge of county correctional facilities to operate a program under which any person committed to the facility is required to participate in a work release program pursuant to criteria described in subdivision (b) of Section 4024.2. Participants in this work release program shall receive any sentence reduction credits that they would have received had they served their sentences in a county correctional facility. Priority for participation in the work release program shall be given to inmates who volunteer to participate in the program.

(b) For purposes of this section, all of the following definitions apply:

(1) “County correctional system’s mandated capacity” means the total capacity of all jails and other correctional facilities for the permanent housing of adult inmates within the county.

(2) “Mandated capacity” of any facility is the capacity for that facility as established by court order or the facility’s rated capacity as established by the Board of Corrections, whichever is less.

(3) “Average daily jail population” is the average total number of inmates incarcerated within the county jail system computed on an annual basis.

(c) (1) The board of supervisors may prescribe reasonable rules and regulations under which a work release program authorized under this section is operated and may provide that participants wear clothing of a distinctive character while performing the work. A person shall be advised by written notice to appear before the sheriff or at the educational, vocational, or substance abuse program at a time and place specified in the notice and shall sign an acknowledgement that the sheriff may immediately retake the person into custody to serve the balance of his or her sentence if the person fails to appear for the program at the time and place designated in the notice, does not perform the work or activity assigned, or for any other reason is no longer a fit subject for release under this section. A copy of the notice and acknowledgement shall be delivered to the person and a copy shall be retained by the sheriff.

(2) Any person who willfully fails to appear at the time and place specified in the notice is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(3) Whenever a peace officer has reasonable cause to believe the person has failed to appear at the time and place specified in the notice or fails to appear or work at the time and place agreed to or has failed to perform the work assigned, the peace officer may, without a warrant, retake the person into custody, or the court may issue an arrest warrant for the retaking of the person into custody, to complete the remainder of the original sentence. A peace officer may not retake a person into custody under this subdivision, without a warrant for arrest, unless the officer has a written order to do so, signed by the sheriff or other person in charge of the work release program, that describes with particularity the person to be retaken.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the sheriff or other official in charge to assign a person to a work release program pursuant to this section if it appears from the record that the person has refused to perform satisfactorily as assigned or has not satisfactorily complied with the reasonable rules and regulations governing the assignment or any other order of the court.

(e) A person shall be eligible for work release under this section only if the sheriff or other official in charge concludes that the person is a fit subject therefor.

(f) The board of supervisors may prescribe a program administrative fee, not to exceed the pro rata cost of administration, to be paid by each person according to his or her ability to pay.

(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 106, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 1996.)