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Nearly 18 months after the state’s prison realignment law took effect, Merced officials agree the jury is still out on whether it meets its intended goals.

Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin on Thursday unveiled a new one-stop shop to provide various services to county jail inmates released under the guidelines established by Assembly Bill 109, the state’s prison realignment law.

After years of cutbacks, layoffs — and now climbing crime rates — police departments throughout the Bay Area have begun taking on new recruits again.

Overall crime in the county’s unincorporated areas went down more than 5 percent in 2012, according to data released by the Merced County Sheriff’s Department this month.