The Associated Press
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Riverside County could become the first county in California to put jail inmates on state fire crews.
The Riverside Press-Enterprise says supervisors are scheduled to vote Tuesday on a measure that would permit as many as 200 county inmates a year to work on state prison crews.
They would be non-violent offenders.
The move is designed to counter a dip in the number of state inmates serving on fire crews. Numbers dropped because of the state prison realignment plan, which has moved thousands of offenders from overcrowded state facilities to county lockups.