Agenda

Back to Calendar Return

PUBLIC PROTECTION COMMITTEE

Meeting Date:	12/02/2019
Subject: Criminal Justice Fees
Department:	County Administrator
Referral No.:	N/A
Referral Name:	Criminal Justice Fees
Presenter:	Paul Reyes, Committee Staff	Contact:	Paul Reyes, 925-335-1096

Information

Referral History:

On February 26, 2019, the Board of Supervisors referred to the Public Protection Committee the topic of criminal justice system fees charged to individuals and a review the current programs, policies and practices related to criminal justice fees. A copy of the referral is included as Attachment A.

On April 1, 2019, the Public Protection Committee considered an introductory report on the issue of criminal justice fees assessed in the County. During that meeting, it was noted that momentum to end criminal fees is growing in the state and individual counties have begun to view criminal justice fees as ineffective and have taken steps to eliminate them. In 2017, the County of Los Angeles eliminated its public defender registration fee. In May 2018, San Francisco eliminated all criminal administrative fees under its control, freeing over 21,000 people of more than $32,000,000 in outstanding criminal administrative fees and surcharges. Most recently, in December 2018, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted to eliminate a host of county-imposed criminal fees. The board voted to eliminate $26,000,000 in fees for tens of thousands of Alameda County residents. A copy of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors approved ordiance is included as Attachment B.

With the passage of Senate Bill 190 in 2017, the State of California eliminated juvenile justice fees in all counties. In January 2019, Senate Bill (SB) 144 was introduced by Sen. Holly Mitchell and would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to eliminate the range of administrative fees that agencies and courts are authorized to impose to fund elements of the criminal legal system, and to eliminate all outstanding debt incurred as a result of the imposition of administrative fees. At the time of the April PPC meeting there had been discussion at the state level about the proposed elimination of specific fees – the probation fee, the public defender fee, and work furlough fee.

Also during the April PPC, general arguments in favor or against continuing criminal justice fees were discussed. It was also noted that analysis of adult criminal justice fees had proven to be complicated. State law dictates a very complex process for the distribution of fine and fee revenue. Per a recent Legislative Analyst’s Office report, state law currently contains at least 215 distinct code sections specifying how individual fines and fees are to be distributed to state and local funds, including additional requirements for when payments are not made in full.

The report provided at the April PPC meeting focused on those fees that had been positively identified as being local and discretionary fees (i.e. not mandated by California law), specifically Probation Fees, Public Defender Fees, and Sheriff Custody Alternative Facility Fees. Further research and analysis will be needed on other fines and fees collected by the Contra Costa Superior Court of California (Court) and remitted to the County.

The April staff report included the following infomation on Probation, Public Defender, and work furlough fees:

Probation Fees

Probation Report Fee - In 2009, the Board of Supervisors adopted Ordinance 2009-28 authorizing the Probation Department to charge a fee of $176 for the cost of generating a probation report to the Court. This is one-time fee.

Cost of Probation Fee - In 2010, the Board of Supervisors adopted Resolution No. 2010/262 to increase the monthly Cost of Probation Fee from $50 per month to $75 per month (average daily cost of $2.50).

Probation Drug Testing Fee – The Probation Department currently charges $10 per month (average daily cost of $0.33) for drug testing.

Probation Dept. Drug Diversion Fee – The Probation Department currently receives approximately $1,000 per year from this fee.

All adults that have been ordered to formal Probation, which includes mandatory supervision, and ordered to pay Probation fees, drug testing fees and/or the cost of their court report shall be assessed for their ability to pay said fees. The ability-to-pay determination is sent to the Court. The Court will order the amount the probationer is required to pay and refer the probationer to the Court Collections Unit for collection.

The following table illustrates the total amount of probation fees a probationer could hypothetically be charged. This is assuming the probation is placed on 3 years of probation and requires monthly drug testing. Over 3 years, a probationer could be charged up to $3,236 for probation.

Example Probationer	Cost	# of Months	Total
Supervision	$75/month	36	2,700
Drug Testing	$10/month	36	360
Report Fee	$176 one-time	n/a	176
Total Cost of Probation			3,236

Cost of Collection and Revenue

The following table shows the actual and estimated cost of collection and revenue for FY 17/18 and FY 18/19, respectively. The Probation fee revenue is used to offset the salaries of adult Deputy Probation Officers.

Fee	FY 17/18		Estimated FY 18/19
Fee	Collection Cost	Revenue	Collection Cost	Revenue
Probation Dept. Drug Diversion Fee (PC 1001.9)	143	1,249	10	1,000
Cost of Probation Fee	91,957	475,573	82,000	444,000
Probation Cost of Drug Test Fee (PC 1203.1(ab))	12,332	60,638	12,000	61,000
Probation Report Fee (PC 1203.1(b))	4,554	27,333	5,000	30,000
Total	108,986	564,793	99,010	536,000

Public Defender Fees

Penal Code 987.81 authorizes the Court to consider and make a determination of the defendant’s ability to pay all or a portion of the costs of legal assistance provided through the public defender or private counsel appointed by the court and may order the defendant to pay all or a part of the cost.

Adults charged with capital or homicide cases may have to pay fees ordered by the court at the conclusion of the case to reimburse the County for the cost of outside counsel. The defendant is referred to the Contra Costa Superior Court Collections Unit by the judge who orders the amount to be paid. The Court makes a determination as to how much, if any, of the ordered amount the person can afford to pay. This determination is made on a sliding scale based upon the person's financial resources. The Office of the Public Defender is not involved in the determination of, or collection of fees.

Cost of Collection and Revenue

The following table shows the actual and estimated cost of collection and revenue for FY 17/18 and FY 18/19, respectively. The Public Defender Fee revenue is used to offset cost of County trial court function, specifically costs associated with capital cases.

Fee	FY 17/18		Projected FY 18/19
Fee	Collection Cost	Revenue	Collection Cost	Revenue
Public Defender Fee	1,849	26,100	-	121,000

Sheriff Office Custody Alternative Facility Program Fees

In 2009, the Board of Supervisors approved Resolution No. 2009/435 setting the fees for the Office of the Sheriff custody alternative programs. The current fees for the Custody Alternative Facility programs are provided below.

Fee	Cost
Electronic Home Detention and Alcohol Monitoring:
Application fee	$125.00 one-time
Electronic Home Monitoring Only	$20.00 per day
Alcohol Monitoring Only	$20.00 per day
Electronic Home Monitoring and Alcohol Monitoring	$23.50 per day
Urinalysis Test	$6.00 per test
Work Alternative Program:
Application fee	$125.00 one-time
Daily Fee	$16.00 per day

Ability to Pay Process

The current Custody Alternative Facility (CAF) procedure provides for the CAF participant to be completely enrolled in a CAF program prior to discussing fees or ability to pay. Participants review and complete the personal budget with their assigned CAF Specialist. The participant will then request a reduction/waiver of fees based on their stated ability to pay. A CAF Sergeant will review and approve the Personal Budget form. A participant's inability to pay all or a portion of any fee(s) will not preclude them from being enrolled or completing any program offered by the Custody Alternative Facility.

Process of Collections

CAF fees are collected after the participant is enrolled in a CAF program. Fees can be paid in the manner which is most appropriate for the participant. Participants can pay their total program fees at one time or over a pre-determined length of time. There is no process established to collect payment from participants who complete the program, but do not pay. A participant's ability to successfully complete a CAF programs is not impacted by lack of payment.

Future Plan for CAF Electronic Home Detention and Work Alternative Programs

CAF is currently working with representatives from the Office of Re-Entry and Justice, the Public Defender’s Office, and Reentry Solutions Group to present updated Ability to Pay forms.

Revenue

The following table shows the actual and estimated revenue for FY 17/18 and FY 18/19, respectively. The CAF Fee revenue is used to offset program costs.

Program	FY 17/18	Projected FY 18/19
Work Alternative Program	443,055	423,000
Electronic Home Detention	568,541	12,000
Total	1,011,596	435,000

The PPC accepted the introductory report and directed staff to perform further research on other fees that are collected or remitted to the County and to report back to the Committee with staff's findings.

On July 1, 2019, the Public Protection Committee accepted an a follow-up report on this issue which included a review of a wider range of criminal justice fees, including those that are mandated by state legislation. This update included the following information on criminal justice fees and SB 144.

Criminal Justice Fees

The Legistlative Analyst's Office (LAO) provided a report titled "Overview of State Criminal Fines and Fees and Probation Fees. The report provide background information regarding both cirminal fines and fees and probation fees. This includes an explanation of how cimrinal fines and fees are assessed. A copy of the LAO report is included as Attachment C.

Upon the request of the Committee, the analysis of the County's criminal justice fees was expanded beyond the fees charged for Probation, indigent defense, and alternatives-to-incarceration fees. Attachment D summaries the fee analysis performed by staff which includes: fee description, relevant code section, authority, ability-to-pay provision, funded County program or function, and revenue collected.

Senate Bill 144

As of July 1, 2019, SB 144 had passed through the California Senate and was in the California Assembly. SB 144 is set to be heard on July 9th in the Assembly Public Safety Committee. SB 144 is currently opposed by Calfiornia State Association of Counties, Urban Counties of California, Rural County Representatives of California, and the Chief Probation Officers of California. These organizations’ opposition is not based on the underlying policy conversation regarding lessening the financial burden associated with fines and fees levied on adults in the criminal justice system, but is based on the fiscal implications and the request for the addition of a sustainable funding source to ensure this does not inadvertently impact the core services, programs and efforts to promote the rehabilitation of offenders. A copy of the amended SB 144 can be found here: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB144&version=20190SB14497AMD

During the July meeting, the Public Protection Committee considered a number of concerns revolving around adult criminal justice fees, including significant concern brought up regarding the ability-to-pay process. The majority of criminal fees include provisions that allow for either a waiver or reduction of the fee based on one’s ability to pay. The Public Protection Committee voted unanimously to refer to the full Board of Supervisors a temporary moratorium on the assessment and collection of criminal justice fees currently authorized by the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors.

On September 17, 2019, the Board of Supervisors considered adopting Resolution No. 2019/522 to place a moratorium on the assessment and collection of certain criminal justice fees. The Board of Supervisors approved the moratorium and directed the Public Protection Committee to gather additiional data about criminal justice fees in Contra Costa County and to return to the Board of Supervisors before the end of the year. A copy of the Resolution is attached for reference (Attachment E).

Following the adoption of the moratorium by the Board of Supervisors, the County Administrator's Office had notified the Sheriff's Office, the Probation Department, and the Superior Court of this moratorium on the assessment and collection of the applicable criminal justice fees.

On September 30, 2019, the Public Protection Committee accepted an update on the implementation of the moratorium on the collection of adult criminal justice fee. The Committee directed staff to assemble a small work group to identify and provide to the Committee any additional available and relevant data.

On November 4, 2019, the Committee was updated on the progress the workgroup had made. This update included information on the San Francisco Financial Justice Project, the abiltity-to-pay process of Probation and the Sheriff's Office, local data on race/income, pending data collection efforts, and an update on the Superior Court implementation of the moratorium. The Committee also discussed Additionally, Reentry Solutions Group provided a Report on Criminal Justice Fees in Contra Costa which provides additional information on the San Francisco Financial Justice Project, the local research process, and local/national research (see Attachment G).

Referral Update:

Since the November meeting, the workgroup drafted a summary report oultlining the data, policies, and partices related to criminal justice fees within Contra Costa County (see Attachment H). Staff is seeking input from the Committee in preparation of bringing the Summary Report to the Board of Supervisor in December 2019.

Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s):

ACCEPT an update on the implementation of a moratorium on the collection and assessment of certain criminal justice fees assessed by the County; and
CONSIDER directing staff to return to the Board of Supervisors to provide the Summary Report on criminal justice fees, authorize the County Administrator's Office to request the Superior Court to incur the necessary expenses to implement the moratorium, to request direction on backfill funding; and to consider approving a revised the moratorium resolution.

Fiscal Impact (if any):

Implementation of the moratorium has resulted in a budgetary impact which is illustrated Attachment I.

Attachments
Attachment A - BOS Referral - Criminal Justice Fees
Attachment B - Alameda County Ordinance Eliminating Fees
Attachment C - LAO Report
Attachment D - Adult Fee Analysis
Attachment E - Resolution No. 2019/522
Attachment F - Court Letter
Attachment G - RSG Report on CJ Fees In Contra Costa
Attachment H - Summary Report
Attachment I - Budgetary Impact