Depending on which side of the bars you’re sitting, Proposition 47–passed by California voters in November 2014–can be good or bad news.
The good news, at least for thousands of people currently under county probation, is that they could be eligible to have their cases closed early. The bad news, according to some county officials, is that their workload will increase once inmates eligible for release under the new law actually seek out that release from county jails and state prisons.
This information all comes from a report presented to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on March 3, showing the preliminary impact the proposition will have on certain county offices—namely the offices of the district attorney, public defender, and sheriff, and the probation department.
Proposition 47, or the Reduced Penalties for Some Crimes Initiative, was approved by nearly 60 percent of California voters and reduces certain types of non-serious, non-violent crimes from felonies to misdemeanors.
For the county Sheriff’s Office, the largest impact appears to be on the number of drug arrests, which has dropped since Jan. 1, while the number of drug citations issued by the department is up. Sheriff Bill Brown told county supervisors that jail bookings* are down 50 percent.
Approximately 1,500 out of the 5,900 adults serving probation time in the county would be the most impacted by the law, according to the report. The District Attorney’s Office is uncertain about exactly how many of that number will actually be released from supervision. Up to 80 juveniles could be impacted, too.
The DA’s Office estimated that at least 130 inmates in the county jail and 226 in state prison are eligible for early release under Proposition 47. The office is predicting a drop in the number of felony cases it will prosecute and a 40 percent increase in misdemeanor filings. To handle the expected number of inmate petitions for release and increased misdemeanor filings, the office thinks “significant” staffing will be required.
“There will be a higher caseload/attorney ratio and an increase in workload for both the attorneys and support staff that handle misdemeanor assignments,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Mag Nicola wrote in an email to the Sun.
The public defender’s office is also expecting to see an increase in workload, although the extent remains to be seen and depends on the filing practices from the DA’s Office, the report says.
* Correction: The Sun misreported what Bill Brown told county supervisors about jail bookings. Only drug charge bookings are down by 50 percent.
Updated 3/24/15
This article appears in Mar 12-19, 2015.