Countywide : Lungren Questions Booking Fee Law

State Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren on Thursday called for a review of the controversial new state law that allows counties to charge cities for booking prisoners into county jails, saying the practice may thwart local crime-fighting efforts.

“I’m going to raise the issue; I’m going to pursue the issue,” Lungren said.

Lungren made the comment after meeting with the state’s police chiefs during their annual convention at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim.

Saying that the booking fee issue was foremost on the minds of police chiefs who met with him during an hourlong session Thursday, Lungren said he will press for reconsideration of the law.

The law came to pass during last year’s budget debate in Sacramento, when legislators slashed county funding statewide but allowed counties to recoup losses by charging cities for services, including the cost of booking prisoners.

As a result, the Orange County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 10 adopted a jail-booking fee that will cost cities $154 to book each prisoner they take to the Orange County Central Jail. Larger cities, such as Santa Ana, estimate they’ll pay as much as $3 million per year.

The fee is scheduled to take effect in July, despite heated debates by local city and police officials.

Lungren criticized the state Legislature for paving the way for jail-booking fees, saying it has created a dangerous precedent.

“My point is not that the budget problems are easy or that they are going to be dealt with with a magic wand,” Lungren said. “My point is that as the chief law enforcement officer, I’ve got an obligation to raise these issues so that those who do have the budget authority . . . understand the repercussions of some of those decisions.

“The police chiefs come to me and they say: ‘Look, we do a very good job out in the community. We think the streets are safer, but now we are going to be penalized for it, because now we are going to have to pay the the cost.’ ”