The Implementation of Prop. 36 in Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara Courthouse via Wikimedia Commons
Story by Tatiana Jacquez || Listen on SoundCloud
The November 2024 election not only brought about a new presidential administration, but a series of propositions that have come into effect in the state of California.
Proposition 36 passed with 68% of the vote and over 10 million votes total, and allows for the possibility of increased sentencing for drug and theft charges with prior history of convictions.
Deputy of the Public Defender in Santa Barbara, Adrian Galvan explained the measure:
“So essentially, if an individual has prior convictions for a hard drug and the individual is given the opportunity to participate in a treatment mandated program with this particular sense, then they have the opportunity to go through this program and essentially have the felony taken off of their record.”
The proposition would change initiatives established in 2014 with Prop 47, which reduced simple drug possession and thefts under $950 to misdemeanors instead of felonies.
“Really what Prop 36 did is it kind of rolled back some of the changes that were made by Prop 47 in 2014.” Said John Savrnoch, District attorney for Santa Barbara County, regarding these changes. He continued, “Prior to Prop 47, for instance, under Prop 36, if somebody has two prior convictions for a theft offense and those convictions could be petty theft, it it be commercial burglary, residential burglary, robbery, carjacking, embezzlement, then if an individual then picks up another charge for that same event, the district attorney has the option to file a felony. It’s not a mandated felony. It’s not every case has to be a felony. It’s what we call a wobbler. It can be a misdemeanor or a felony.”
Savrnoch further explained how a wobbler is charged at the discretion of the district attorney assigned to the case. He explained his process of determining a charge as a misdemeanor or felony, which is based on prior convictions, factoring in recency, severity, and history of the crimes.
One of the most significant changes Prop 36 brings to the table is the establishment of the treatment mandated felony, in which those charged with possession or drug charges can opt into drug treatment instead of jail time, and in which the felony will be wiped from their record. However, should the individual refuse treatment, the possibility for increased sentencing length increases significantly.
Many experts and constituents worry that the proposition will result in growth in our jail population. Under Sheriff of Santa Barbara County, Craig Bonner, stated that while it’s possible and expected that Proposition 36 will result in some degree of growth, the sample size and time frame since the enactment of Prop 36 does not give us enough information to truly assess the notion at this time: “You know, we’ve taken a quick look at our numbers and we aren’t seeing a huge spike in our jail populations since this law went into place. Now, that it’s only been a little over a month and a half at this point in time, what that’s going to look like on a long-term basis. That’s why we say we just really don’t have the track record to see how this is truly going to impact the jail population in our community.”
Since the bill’s passing in November and subsequent implementation in December, counties across California have been working to put together a plan for this treatment for those convicted. However, with the proposition not explicitly outlining a treatment plan or funding for implementation of a structure for county use, officials across the state have been working to craft a plan to address the needs of those offered treatment mandated felony charge. Here in Santa Barbara County, the DA’s office, the courts, the public defender, the probation department, and the Department of Behavioral Health are all working together to develop infrastructure to attend to individuals’ needs who are offered treatment with drug charges.
Mr. Savrnoch noted that the plan would be tailored to each individual and the specific circumstances of their conviction. Additionally, he noted that the charges would be race-blind and eliminate any identifiers that could impact the specifics and length of the charge.
Regarding the financing of the treatment plan under Prop 36, Savrnoch noted the possibility of utilizing Medicare and Medi-Cal or even private health insurance for the treatment plan, should the individual be covered under a private insurance company.
Chief Trial Deputy of the Public Defender, Adrian Galvan, said that Prop 36 is facing an infrastructure problem: “The problem that we’re facing right now is that the infrastructure for this particular treatment, the mandate for the treatment, it is not in place. The funding for the treatment is not in place. The Prop 36 law did not include funding in its voter initiative legislation. Sacramento this week in the Public Safety Committee had a hearing regarding funding for Prop 36 2024. They’re working on trying to find ways to fund Prop 36 2024. As of right now, there is no way to fund this piece of legislation throughout the state.”
Galvan further explained that he doesn’t think Prop 36 will fix the problems it is trying to address.
“You know our perspective on Prop 36 is that it is not the solution that it claims to be. The root causes of addiction or theft are housing, instability, untreated mental health needs, a lack of economic opportunity. And getting at these root causes are really the efforts that government can be undertaking, not criminalizing and not going back to creating felonies out of what we’re misdemeanors. I think these Prop 36 2020 is a step back towards mass incarceration when we have been taking steps against that over the last couple years.”
With funding and the treatment plan not quite completed, those with the opportunity to receive treatment authorized by Prop 36 have not had their cases filed as of today here in Santa Barbara County. But the DA and the deputy public defender anticipate the treatment plan will be completed in the next few weeks. KCSB will continue with updates related to Prop 36 in Santa Barbara County.