Updated February 25, 2020
Penal Code 3056 PC is the California statute that allows courts to keep parolees in custody pending their parole revocation hearings. While they are in jail, the county has sole legal custody over them. If parole gets reinstated, the person is transferred back into the custody of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
California Penal Code 3056 PC states:
(a) Prisoners on parole shall remain under the supervision of the department but shall not be returned to prison except as provided in subdivision (b) or as provided by subdivision (c) of Section 3000.09. A parolee awaiting a parole revocation hearing may be housed in a county jail while awaiting revocation proceedings. If a parolee is housed in a county jail, he or she shall be housed in the county in which he or she was arrested or the county in which a petition to revoke parole has been filed or, if there is no county jail in that county, in the housing facility with which that county has contracted to house jail inmates. Additionally, except as provided by subdivision (c) of Section 3000.09 , upon revocation of parole, a parolee may be housed in a county jail for a maximum of 180 days per revocation. When housed in county facilities, parolees shall be under the sole legal custody and jurisdiction of local county facilities. A parolee shall remain under the sole legal custody and jurisdiction of the local county or local correctional administrator, even if placed in an alternative custody program in lieu of incarceration, including, but not limited to, work furlough and electronic home detention. When a parolee is under the legal custody and jurisdiction of a county facility awaiting parole revocation proceedings or upon revocation, he or she shall not be under the parole supervision or jurisdiction of the department. Unless otherwise serving a period of flash incarceration, whenever a parolee who is subject to this section has been arrested, with or without a warrant or the filing of a petition for revocation with the court, the court may order the release of the parolee from custody under any terms and conditions the court deems appropriate. When released from the county facility or county alternative custody program following a period of custody for revocation of parole or because no violation of parole is found, the parolee shall be returned to the parole supervision of the department for the duration of parole.
(b) Inmates paroled pursuant to Section 3000.1 may be returned to prison following the revocation of parole by the Board of Parole Hearings until July 1, 2013, and thereafter by a court pursuant to Section 3000.08 .
(c) A parolee who is subject to subdivision (a), but who is under 18 years of age, may be housed in a facility of the Division of Juvenile Facilities, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Legal Analysis
Prisoners released on parole in California must abide by various conditions. If they allegedly violate a condition, the judge may “remand” them to a county jail until the revocation hearing. The jail may be located in either:
- The county the parolee was arrested;
- The county where the state filed the petition to revoke parole;
- If there is no county jail, a housing facility contracted to house inmates; or
- If the parolee is under 18, a juvenile detention facility
In some cases, judges may permit parolees to remain out of custody pending the revocation hearing.
After the revocation hearing, the judge will determine whether the parolee may remain on parole or not. If the judge reinstates parole, the judge may add additional conditions. If the judge revokes (cancels) parole, the ex-parolee may remain in the county jail for a maximum of 180 more days.
While prisoners are out on parole, they are supervised by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. But if they get remanded to a county jail following an alleged parole violation, the county will have sole legal custody and jurisdiction over them.