December 7, 2107

The CSAC Administration of Justice policy committee met on November 30 at the 123^rd CSAC Annual meeting in Sacramento County. Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza with Napa County presided as Vice-Chair. The meeting agenda and attachments are available here.

The agenda topics included: a presentation from Riverside County that looked at the efforts they are making to reform their complex criminal justice system; the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services presented on how to support and enrich community resilience against ideologically motivated violence within communities; a brief overview of CSAC’s cannabis efforts; and a look at the 2018 legislative priorities.

The first panel focused on Riverside County’s efforts to improve their criminal justice system while reducing costs. The panelists were: Supervisor Chuck Washington with Riverside County; George Johnson, Riverside County Executive Officer; Chief Probation Officer Mark Hake, Riverside County; Scott McDonald, California Forward; Ken Flaherty, LEAN; and Bill Zizic and Ian McPherson with KPMG. The panelists presented on the three criminal justice reform initiatives influencing the way the county’s criminal justice partners work together. They focused on partnership, leveraging their resources and making data-driven decisions to reduce recidivism and costs in the county.

Following this panel, Jerid Hensley, State Threat Assessment Center and Jessica Kuron, Coordinator, Cal OES Preventing Violent Extremis Program both with Cal OES presented on combatting ideologically motivated violence in communities. They presented an overview of various ideologically motivated groups, offered counties an opportunity to work with them to identify these groups, come up with plans on how to positively engage these groups and to offer financial assistance and training on these issues.

Lastly, CSAC staff provided a brief overview of CSAC’s Cannabis Policy, Advocacy and Outreach efforts and a preview of the upcoming 2018 legislative session. The following priorities were discussed and approved by the committee:

• Bail Reform.The nationwide movement toward reforming the bail system continues in California. SB 10 (Hertzberg) was ultimately made a two-year bill with a public announcement from Governor Brown, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, and Senator Robert Hertzberg promising to continue working on reforming the bail system in California in 2018. CSAC will continue to advocate for a risk-based bail system that is fully funded to ensure that individuals released with pre-trial services do not pose a risk to public safety.

• Domestic Violence Batterer Intervention Programs.After working with a Task Force on Reforming California Domestic Violence Batterer Intervention Programs, CSAC sponsored AB 372 (Stone). AB 372 would reform the Batterer Intervention Programs by requiring the use of evidence-based programs that address the criminogenic needs of offenders and improve the outcomes of domestic violence batterers, thereby reducing cases of domestic violence. This measure stalled after concerns were raised, but CSAC will continue working with the Legislature in 2018 in the development of amendments to make AB 372 a pilot program in 5 counties.