State prison system resumes inmate transfers, freeing up space at Humboldt County Correctional Facility

HUMBOLDT COUNTY, Calif. (KIEM) — The California state prison system has resumed inmate transfers, something that was halted during the Coronavirus pandemic.

According to Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal, 30 inmates were recently transferred to North Kern State Prison. Since March, the county has had between 30 and 40 inmates who had been sentenced to prison terms, but were being housed locally at the Humboldt County Correctional Facility. 

Previously, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation worked to reduce overcrowding through early release for some prisoners and suspending transfers from county jails. Since transfers have resumed, the secured housing unit has opened up and will allow for more local offenders to be held at the jail.

“We’re going to be doing less and less people that are cited and released. We already have people that are an issue within our community, people that are likely to re-offend. We’re allowing those people to be housed in our facility to go to court. We know that there’s people that will continue to do crime. We’re allowing those people to be arrested, to be housed here, and to be seen in court before they’re released,” according to Sheriff Honsal.

Sheriff Honsal adds that the correctional facility will start regularly transporting inmates to the state prison system on an as needed basis.