Prosecutors to Converge in Riverside for Summit

Prosecutors throughout California will be in Riverside today, hammering out legislative priorities for 2014 and comparing notes onhow recent changes in state law have impacted their counties.

The California District Attorneys’ Association’s Legislative Summit will be held at the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office headquarters at Orange and 10th streets, starting around 8 a.m.

This is the first time the conference has been held in Riverside, according to District Attorney Paul Zellerbach.

“This summit will help district attorneys from across the state formulate their legislative agendas for the next year,” he said.

Sean Hoffman, the association’s legislative director, said the two-day summit will also provide a “nice opportunity for some of our members to see how another county’s operation works.”

Officials said one of the top items under review will be the ongoing ramifications of Assembly Bill 109, the Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011, a measure championed by Gov. Jerry Brown that shifted many state law enforcement responsibilities onto counties.

Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff and each member of the Board of Supervisors blames AB 109 for overburdening the county’s jail system because the law requires that certain offenders who fall into the “non-serious, non-violent” category serve out their sentences in local jails instead of state prisons — even if the time served spans a decade or more.

The summit is not open to the public.