At its meeting on February 9, 2015, the Board of Supervisors authorized the Public Defender to apply and accept grants with the San Francisco Foundation and the California Endowment to fund a Proposition 47 Outreach Program. Proposition 47 legislation reclassifies some non-serious and non-violent property and drug crimes from felonies to misdemeanors; however, the provisions of this new law will sunset in November of 2017. The prescribed timeframe for offender relief constrain Defense Counsel to a limited period of time to identify, locate, and provide legal services to eligible defendants.  
  
The Contra Costa County Public Defender's Office has become a statewide leader in Proposition 47 work, and in partnership with local community based organizations has secured sentence reductions for all known eligible felony probationers (more than 1,000 defendants) in the County. There are reclassification provisions in Proposition 47 allowing for the reduction of prior felony convictions retroactively, and it is estimated that between 10,000 to 15,000 convictions in County are eligible for reclassification. Given existing staffing, as little as 40% of the eligible cases can be processed prior to the November 2017 deadline.  
  
Diligent solicitation of supplemental funding from non-profit foundations has resulted in the award of grant revenues to augment the public funding commitment to pursue this important work.  
  
The Department will employ three (3) temporary clerical positions to work under the supervision of a Deputy Public Defender to accelerate the Proposition 47 activities already underway by permanent support staff. The job duties will include: client intake, review of closed cases, drafting and filing of petitions, preparing files for hearings, client communications and notifications and conducting outreach events.  
  
As a condition of the grant awards, the California Endowment and the San Francisco Foundation require full indemnification by Contra Costa County.