California Assembly Bill 109 - a comparative analysis of Butte and Merced counties

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a comparative analysis of Butte and Merced counties pertaining to the implementation of Assembly Bill 109. This assessment of each county will include the type of spending each county implements in terms of the allocation of funding provided to them through Assembly Bill 109. This analysis will also consider themes found in news media from each county that are relative to the implementation of Assembly Bill 109 and official county records of both counties. For the purposes of this study, this comparative analysis will provide insight into the type of post-release programs that have been implemented in both Butte and Merced counties, the success of those programs, and how that may relate to public opinion.