September 3, 2020

The Administration of Justice policy committee advocated on a number of bills this legislative session. Here are some highlights from the end of session.

AB 1007 (Jones-Sawyer): Local Government Financing: juvenile justice:

Would have redirected Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act (JJCPA) funds, revised the composition of local Juvenile Justice Coordinating Councils, and recast various elements of required multiagency juvenile justice plans. This measure proposed redirecting 95% of JJCPA funds away from probation departments and would have allocated the funding to community-based organizations and other public agencies or departments that are not law enforcement entities. Currently, in most instances, these funds are dedicated to staffing and personnel costs that make up the backbone of county juvenile probation departments. CSAC, UCC and RCRC were opposed to this measure and it did not move forward in the legislative process.

SB 823: Division of Juvenile Justice.

This measure, passed in the last hour of session, proposes to close the Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) facilities and realign the responsibility of youthful offenders to counties. While the final framework included in SB 823 is significantly different from the Legislature’s original proposal opposed by CSAC, UCC, and RCRC, it does not include all of the components of the framework discussed between the administration and CSAC/UCC/RCRC/CPOC and may require considerable cleanup legislation prior to implementation. CSAC and county partners will continue to push for needed changes to this measure prior to implementation in 2021-22. The bill includes the closure of DJJ intake on July 1, 2021, with ongoing funding for counties to serve youth locally. Additionally, the bill includes $9.6 million in 2020-21 for implementation grants. CSAC, UCC, RCRC, CPOC, and CBHDA are strongly opposed to SB 823. SB 823 was enrolled to the Governor on August 31.

AB 1869: Criminal Justice Fees.

This measure, passed on the last night of session, would repeal the authority to collect various criminal justice administrative fees upon conviction or arrest and would also appropriate $65 million annually for five years to counties to backfill associated revenue losses. CSAC was previously opposed to Senate Bill 144 by Senator Mitchell unless sustainable funding was provided to back-fill the loss of revenue resulting from eliminating criminal justice related fees and shifting a variety of costs to the counties. After two-years of continued SB 144 conversations and advocating for additional funding with stakeholders, the Administration, and Legislature, AB 1869 would enact some of the provisions of SB 144 and provide much needed backfill funding so that counties can continue to deliver essential core services and programs in the near term. CSAC, UCC, and RCRC support AB 1869 as this measure addresses our immediate fiscal concerns that were originally raised relative to SB 144 and incorporates funding that is beneficial to counties for the next five years, which may be extended through further legislation. AB 1869 was enrolled to the Governor on August 31.

AB 1950 (Kamlager): Probation:

Would limit the term of probation to no longer than two years for a felony conviction and provides that the two-year probation limit does not apply to offenses defined by law as violent felonies, or to an offense that includes a specific probation term within its provisions. The measure also limits the probation term to one year for misdemeanor offenses and provides that the two-year probation limit does not apply to a felony conviction for grand theft from an employer, embezzlement, or theft by false pretenses, if the total value of property taken exceeds $25,000. CSAC did not have a position on this bill. AB 1950 was enrolled to the Governor on August 27.

AB 3364 (Committee on Judiciary): Judiciary Omnibus – Chapter 36, Statutes of 2020.
This measure enacts numerous technical changes to several of the California codes as part of the judiciary omnibus bill.  One of the technical changes in AB 3364 is the delay of implementation of provisions of SB 10 (Hertzberg), Chap. 244, Stats. 2018, which repeals the cash bail system and instead requires Pretrial Assessment Services to assess a person arrested or detained according to a risk assessment instrument and specifies the procedures for the detention or release of that person until October 1, 2021. CSAC did not have a position on this bill. AB 3364 was signed by the Governor on August 31.