The initiatives are drawing resistance from San Diego County supervisors, statewide law enforcement groups and Republican lawmakers.

“Counties are very concerned and very suspicious,” said Greg Cox, a San Diego County supervisor.

Moreover, public anger could overwhelm a compromise if it is interpreted as requiring more prisoners to be set free.

Early release “is a phrase that makes the sirens go off,” said Jerry Powers, president of the Chief Probation Officers of California .?

Supporters of both plans say counties will have expanded authority to use alternatives, such as drug treatment and supervised probation.

“We're providing them with resources and allowing them to use that money in a way they think is best,” said H.D. Palmer?,? a Department of Finance spokesman. “We don't specify that you have to lock them up.”

Sheriffs are not convinced.

“They're not giving us enough money to make this happen,” said San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill, president of the California State Sheriffs' Association. “The sheriffs have no control over sentences and we're the ones who are responsible for the inmates. It's unacceptable as it stands.”

San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore declined to comment for this story. It remains unclear how the various proposals could impact San Diego County jails. The county housed an average 5,000 inmates daily, at a cost of $118 each, according to the sheriff's department's 2009 annual report.

Cox said state payments have not kept pace with the costs of other programs the Legislature has imposed on local government. He also doubts the state would fully cover inmate medical costs.

“There's a great deal of trepidation every time the state offers programs for the counties to take over,” Cox said.

The county has little room to maneuver, said Cox, citing an earlier court-imposed cap on inmate populations.

Supervisor Bill Horn, as well as Cox, worries that taking more state prisoners will ultimately lead to releasing county inmates.

“If they're worthy of incarceration today in state prison what makes them worthy of not incarcerating them tomorrow just because the state has squandered their money?” Horn said.

A little-debated, money-saving provision in Chelsea's Law, a sex offender crackdown named after murdered Poway teenager Chelsea King,, could separately shift some low-level prisoners to county jails starting in 2011-12.

Early this year, a state policy aimed at dealing with prison overpopulation resulted in hundreds of inmates in city and county jails being released early, generating confusion and consternation from San Diego to Sacramento. It turned out some inmates convicted of violent crime had been released. In Sacramento County, one of the prisoners allowed out early was back behind bars just hours later on suspicion of rape.

In San Diego County, 260 low-risk inmates were released the day the law went effect.

Schwarzenegger and lawmakers are targeting spiraling state prison costs, noting it is cheaper to house inmates in county jails. A federal receiver has ordered huge cuts in state prison populations to ease overcrowding.

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst notes the governor's proposal could save the general fund $200 million in 2010-11, but adds that costs could rise dramatically in subsequent years.

Democrats also need an extension of a vehicle license fee, or car tax, increase due to expire next year to finance their plan — something the governor and Republicans vow won't happen.

Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, architect of the Democratic plan, says it is part of a strategy to help the state and local governments provide services the public demands in an era of fiscal constraint.

“We're trying to bring services closer to the people and provide local governments with the resources and responsibility to provide those services ... They can do the job more effectively,” Steinberg said.

The state says the average annual cost of housing an inmate is $52,363, including food, housing, clothing, security, programming and medical care.

Sheriffs say county jail costs average about $35,000 a year statewide if medical care and drug treatment are reflected. San Diego County's annual expenses are even higher, as much as $43,070, according to figures extrapolated from the annual report.

Sheriffs also point out that they do not dictate sentences — judges do. That leaves them with little control over prisoner placement.

Sheriff Hill said any transfer of prisoners would be problematic because on average 7 of 10 county inmates are being held for trial and cannot be shifted around.