LA County Board

22. Los Angeles County to Take Actionable Next Steps to Depopulate and\nDecarcerate the Los Angeles County Jails: Granting Local Authority,\nAdvocating for Court and State Support, and Legislative Changes\nRecommendation as submitted by Supervisors Solis and Horvath: Declare the\nState of mental health services and overcrowding in the Los Angeles County\njails a humanitarian crisis, requiring the County to move with all deliberate\nspeed on meaningful solutions; and prioritize decreasing the number of\nindividuals entering the Los Angeles County Jails by doing the following:\nInstruct the Executive Director of the Countywide Criminal Justice\nCoordinating Committee, in collaboration with the Interim Director of\nJustice, Care and Opportunities and the Sheriff, to engage with the 45\nmunicipal law enforcement partners, identify interested partners, and\nwork with those partners to develop Memoranda of Understanding\n(MOUs), or other agreements, aimed at expanding the use of cite and\nrelease across the County;\nInstruct the Interim Director of Justice, Care and Opportunities and the\nInterim Director of the Office of Diversion and Re-Entry, to coordinate\nand align their respective pre-filing diversion efforts (i.e., Law\nEnforcement Assisted Diversion/Let Everyone Advance with Dignity, and\nDepartment of Justice, Care and Opportunities (JCOD) Pre-Filing\nDiversion Pilot Programs) to plan for expansion of those efforts in a\nmanner that maximizes resources and avoids duplication of efforts; and\nInstruct the Public Defender and the Alternate Public Defender to\ndevelop recommendations, including staffing and budget needs, that will\nenable each office to help people resolve Failure to Appear warrants as a\nmeans of avoiding incarceration, including consideration of expanding\nexisting expungement clinics and/or mobile services;\nPrioritize increased opportunities for pre-trial release by doing the following:\nInstruct County Counsel, in collaboration with the Interim Director of\nJustice, Care and Opportunities, to send a five-signature letter to Los\nAngeles Superior Court (LASC) to implement the Emergency Bail\nSchedule that was in place at the height of the COVID pandemic, and\nimplement, where feasible, extended court hours to serve those residents\nwho are not able to attend or appear at court during normal business\nhours;\nInstruct the Interim Director of Justice, Care and Opportunities, in\ncollaboration with the Public Defender, Alternate Public Defender,\nDistrict Attorney, and in consultation with the Executive Officer/Clerk of\nthe Superior Court, to explore opportunities to provide additional\nprograms and services to expand diversion and alternative sentencing\nopportunities throughout the pretrial process including, but not limited to,\nthe Early Disposition Courts;\nAs it relates to Penal Code §1203.018, instruct the Interim Director of\nJustice, Care and Opportunities and request the Sheriff, in consultation\nwith County Counsel, to develop the rules and regulations of the early\nrelease, pre-sentenced programs, as allowed by Penal Code §1203.018;\nauthorize the use of Penal Code §1203.018 by the Sheriff to release\nindividuals in the County jails held on bail for either felonies and/or\nmisdemeanors who can be safely released back into the community,\nbased on said rules and regulations of the program, and instruct the\nInterim Director of Justice, Care and Opportunities to file with the Board\nthe agreed upon rules and regulations for the pre-sentenced program ;\nInstruct the Interim Director of Justice, Care and Opportunities to explore\nopportunities to subsidize transportation to and from court and other\nsupports for individuals released pre-trial, assess the likely impact on jail\npopulation, and to develop a plan to do so, with the plan to, in\ncollaboration with Chief Executive Officer, identify costs and possible\none-time and ongoing funding sources;\nInstruct the Interim Director of the Justice, Care and Opportunities,\nAlternate Public Defender, Public Defender, the Interim Chief Probation\nOfficer, and request the District Attorney and the Sheriff, to work with the\nLASC to increase the use of split sentencing as another alternative to\nincarceration;\nInstruct the Interim Director of Justice, Care and Opportunities, in\ncollaboration with the Sheriff and all other relevant Departments, to\ndevelop a plan and coordinate the implementation of community services\nprograms at each Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD)\nstation in the County that would help to support the expansion of pre-trial\nreleases by the LASC, and any other diversion effort by JCOD and\nOffice of Diversion and Re-Entry (ODR); and\nInstruct the Interim Director of Justice, Care and Opportunities, and\nrequest the Sheriff, in collaboration with the Public Defender and\nAlternate Public Defender, to report back to the Board on previous efforts\nto conduct video arraignments at all LASD station jails and provide a\nproposal for a pilot to reinitiate efforts to arraign as many individuals as\npossible, remotely via video conference, in an effort to reduce the\nnumber of individuals transferred from local to County jails;\nPrioritize increased opportunities for post-sentence release and re-entry by\ndoing the following:\nAs it relates to early release programs under Penal Code §§1203.016\nand 1203.017, instruct the Interim Director of Justice, Care and\nOpportunities and request the Sheriff, in consultation with County\nCounsel, to evaluate the current rules and regulations for the Los Angeles\nCounty Sheriff’s Department’s early release, post-sentenced programs\nunder Penal Code §§1203.016 and 1203.017, and make any needed\nadjustments; re-authorize the use of Penal Code §§1203.016 and\n1203.017 by LASD to release individuals committed and/or sentenced to\nthe County jails for misdemeanors and/or felonies who can be safely\nreleased back into the community based on the rules and regulations of\nthe program previously developed by LASD; and instruct the Interim\nDirector of Justice, Care and Opportunities, to file with the Board the\nagreed upon rules and regulations for the post-sentenced program and\ndetail the County’s collaborative effort to ensure the program’s success;\nRequest the Sheriff to review its “shorts” release policy, starting with\nindividuals incarcerated at Century Regional Detention Facility, for\nopportunities to further modify time-served requirements; review its bail\nthresholds to cite and release individuals with aggregate bail amounts set\nat $50,000 or below; and expand the “shorts” release policy and\n“percentage release” program to include people sentenced under\nAssembly Bill (AB) 109/Penal Code §1170(h);\nInstruct the Interim Chief Probation Officer to implement a high-level\napproval process for custody-based on Post-Release Community\nSupervision (PRCS) revocation and instruct the Interim Director of\nJustice, Care and Opportunities to work with the Interim Chief Probation\nOfficer to find alternative measures to respond to PRCS violations that do\nnot result in individuals being incarcerated;\nDirect the Chief Executive Officer, through the Legislative Affairs and\nIntergovernmental Relations Division , in consultation with the Interim\nDirector of Justice, Care and Opportunities, and County Counsel, to\nsend a five-signature letter to Governor Gavin Newsom and the California\nDepartment of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) Secretary Jeff\nMacomber, to:\nExpedite release of individuals being held in local custody on\nbehalf of the State including, granting the Sheriff delegated\nauthority to calculate credits and release individuals directly from\nlocal custody; expedite the transfer of those individuals, being held\nin local custody, who have been sentenced to state prison to\nCDCR facilities; and establish State-funded and managed\nalternative custody arrangements for individuals who are in\ncustody based on the State’s decision to revoke their parole\nand/or pending processing after receiving a State prison\ncommitment from the court;\nInstruct the Interim Chief Probation Officer, in collaboration with Interim\nDirector of Justice, Care and Opportunities and the Chief Executive\nOfficer, to identify costs and possible one-time and ongoing funding\nsources to support and expand the JCOD’s re-entry and programming\nservices;\nReaffirm the Board’s commitment to depopulate and decarcerate through\nlegislative advocacy by doing the following:\nDirect the Chief Executive Officer, through the Legislative Affairs and\nIntergovernmental Relations Division, to advocate in support of legislative\nproposals to:\nEnd non-safety related towing of vehicles; and enhance\nimplementation of the County’s pre-trial services, including\nproposals to:\nAdopt a zero-bail schedule for individuals accused of\nlow-level offenses, infractions, misdemeanors, and some\nfelony offenses, similar to the schedule that was put in place\nat the height of the COVID pandemic permanently;\nProtect information provided by defendants in pre-trial\nservices evaluations, and expand the definition of criminal\njustice agencies to include pre-trial release, and require the\nAttorney General of California to provide State summary\ncriminal history information to County staff performing\npre-trial release services, similar to AB 2354 (2021);\nDirect permanent funding to Los Angeles County for pretrial\nservices, similar to San Francisco and Santa Clara County;\nand\nDirect any one-time funding allocated to the County through\nSenate Bill (SB) 129 for pre-trial services to remain\navailable for future pre-trial services;\nAmend the appropriate Government Code and other relevant\nstatutes that would provide the Sheriff and the Department of\nHealth Services’ Correctional Health Services greater ability to\nimplement medical releases from custody (Gov. Code §26605.5)\nand compassionate releases from custody (Gov. Code §26605.6);\nMandate both the LASC and LASD to share data with a County\nDepartment that is charged with depopulation of the jail and/or\nadministration of pre-trial services and alternatives to\nincarceration, and\nProvide funding to support re-entry (pre- or post-sentenced)\nprogramming and services;\nIn continued efforts to safely depopulate and decarcerate, do the following:\nDirect the Acting Chief Information Officer, in collaboration with the\nInterim Director of Justice, Care and Opportunities, the LASC, Public\nDefender, Alternate Public Defender, Directors of Mental Health, Health\nServices, Public Health, the Interim Chief Probation Officer, Information\nSystem Advisory Body, and request the District Attorney and the Sheriff,\nand any other pertinent County Department, to create a data collection,\nevaluation, and research team focused on data tracking and modeling of\nall pre-sentence and sentenced populations, including:\nThe daily real time numbers for all P-levels;\nTheir current status in the judicial process;\nThe predicted date of release;\nTracking of all individuals waiting to be transferred to State prison,\nState hospitals, and any other jurisdiction;\nThe predicted impact on the numbers for all County re-entry\ninterventions and services;\nThe predicted impact on the numbers for all County pretrial,\ndiversion, split sentencing, and alternative sentencing interventions\nand services (separating the numbers based on impact to jails vs.\nprison);\nAll available beds within the County network; and\nReal-time data as to whether each of those beds are occupied or\nnot on a daily basis, including tracking walk aways from treatment\nand those who abscond;\nDirect the Acting Chief Information Officer, in consultation with the\nInterim Director of Justice, Care and Opportunities, to engage a\nconsultant and/or academic research institution to develop tools for jail\npopulation modeling and projections, which will remain in the County’s\nownership and control for ongoing, future modeling;\nDirect the Acting Chief Information Officer, in collaboration with Chief\nExecutive Officer, to identify costs and possible one-time and ongoing\nfunding sources, to support data tracking and modeling efforts, including\nfunding for JCOD, or County Departments to hire necessary staff;\nRequest that the Sheriff identify pilot alternative assessment tools, other\nthan COMPAS, for purposes of assessing eligibility for discretionary\nrelease programs;\nRequest the Sheriff to work with the Interim Director of Justice, Care and\nOpportunities to expand access to individuals in custody for\ncommunity-based service providers and individuals with lived experience\nto provide jail in-reach and other services;\nRequest the Sheriff to identify alternative security classification\nassessment tools, other than COMPAS, for purposes of identifying\nindividuals who pose a security threat to themselves or others;\nInstruct the Interim Director of Justice, Care and Opportunities to create\na catalog of all County programs that impact recidivism rates of\njustice-impacted and involved individuals and evaluate the effectiveness\non decarceration and recidivism, including providing recommendations\non creating new or expanding existing programs;\nDirect County Counsel, with the Interim Director of Justice, Care and\nOpportunities, to assess and provide recommendations to resolve any\nnegative impact of the closures of State prisons on the Los Angeles\nCounty jail population that would pose challenges, including legal, to the\nBoard’s “care first, jails last” efforts;\nDirect the Acting Chief Information Officer, to work with the Interim\nDirector of Justice, Care and Opportunities, County Counsel, other\nrelevant County Departments, and the LASC, to establish data sharing\nagreements so JCOD and the Jail Closure Implementation Team (JCIT)\ncan access data to assist in jail depopulation and administration of\nalternatives to incarceration;\nInstruct the Interim Director of Justice, Care and Opportunities, and\nrequest the Sheriff to jointly report back to the Board annually in June\nwith an update on the use of Penal Code §§1203.016, 1203.017, and\n1203.018 early releases, program effectiveness, with data-driven\nanalysis, and any recommendations for modifying the program, as\nrequired by Penal Code §1203.018, subdivision (e);\nDirect the Chief Executive Officer to work with the Interim Director of\nJustice, Care and Opportunities in collaboration with County Counsel, to\nestablish a master services agreement contracting model, similar to the\none used by the Department of Health Services, to expedite contracting\nefforts, including to secure housing, supportive services, and case\nmanagement, and further direct Chief Executive Officer to ensure JCOD\nhas the staffing and administrative support to carry out the relevant\ndirectives to further the County’s efforts to safely depopulate and\ndecarcerate the jails and in furtherance of JCOD’s mission; and\nDirect the Interim Director of Justice, Care and Opportunities and County\nCounsel to coordinate the reports back for this motion in the following manner:\nEach Department named as lead within the motion directives shall\nprovide the Interim Director of Justice, Care and Opportunities and\nCounty Counsel with its report back that includes a timeline of when it will\ncomplete the directive(s) it is responsible for, subject to review by JCOD:\nWithin 60 days of this motion, each Department named as a lead\nfor a directive(s) shall provide to the Interim Director of Justice,\nCare and Opportunities its report back, in writing, and if it cannot\ncomplete the directive(s) within 60 days, the Department must\ninform JCOD, in writing, at least one week prior to the directive(s)\ndeadline as to why it was not able to complete the directive(s) on\ntime and provide a new deadline, and JCOD will include this in its\nsubsequent reports back to the Board;\nWithin 90 days of this motion, JCOD shall collate only the reports\nreceived by the 60-day timeline into one document and submit it to\nthe Board;\nAfter the initial report back, the lead Departments for any\noutstanding directive(s) must work with JCOD and provide JCOD\nupdates every 60 days regarding the directive(s); and\nJCOD will provide quarterly reports to the Board based on the\nupdates provided by the Departments, with these reports to\nsupersede any previous report back responsibilities by JCIT to the\nBoard. (23-1311)\nAttachments: Motion by Supervisors Solis and Horvath\nPublic Comment/Correspondence