Prisons and prisoner re-entry issues

Baja California Sur’s prison infrastructure is overburdened.  For example, in 1998, the rehabilitation center (CERESO) of La Paz showed an excess population of 50%; with construction and remodeling, this was reduced to 33%.  A little under half of the inmates of state penitentiaries are under federal jurisdiction, and of those less than 60% have sentences.  The funds sent by the federal Ministry of Interior for their maintenance are entirely insufficient.[1]  In 2003, according to the Ministry of Interior, the five CERESOs in Baja California Sur have a total capacity for 896 prisoners.  Of the 410 minors in the system, 23.6% are repeat offenders (29.7% fewer than in 2002).[2]

Robbery is the most reported crime, hovering between 43% in 1998 and 40% of the crimes investigated by the public prosecutor’s office in 2003.  Minor offenses, such as property damage, and injuries, such as sexual assault, are next with between 12-25% of the reported cases.  Violent crime is a very small percentage of cases, with homicides at just 0.5% of all reported crimes for 1998, 2002, and 2003.