Chad Rinde, Chief Financial Officer, Department of Financial Services
Staff Contact:
Edward Burnham, Treasury & Revenues, Department of Financial Services, x8212
Subject
Receive update on impacts of Assembly Bill 1869 Legislation; authorize Probation, Public Defender, Sheriff, and Financial Services to cease charging and collection of repealed fees; and authorize Financial Services to discharge outstanding debts related to these specified Criminal Justice Fees. (General fund impact $381,199) (Rinde/Burnham)
Recommended Action
Receive and accept presentation on AB1869 legislation;
Authorize Financial Services, Probation, Public Defender, and Sheriff to cease charging and collection of fees contained in AB1869 effective November 3, 2020;
Direct Financial Services to repeal fees formally as part of the December, 2020 Master fee update process; and
Direct Financial Services to discharge accountability for fees repealed by AB1869 starting November 3, 2020 and return to the Board with a report of total completed discharges.
Strategic Plan Goal(s)
Thriving Residents
Safe Communities
Reason for Recommended Action/Background
AB1869 Background
On September 18, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 1869 into law. This bill repeals the authority of Counties through 23 different code provisions which allow for the charging and collection of a variety of Criminal Justice fees in the Probation, Public Defender and Sheriff offices. This is part of a broader trend in the state of California of legislative efforts to reduce or eliminate criminal justice fees which rely on academic studies demonstrating that these fees can be counter-productive and disproportionately affect lower-income households.
This repeal in AB1869 was set in law to become effective on July 1, 2021 and will also at that time require the County to discharge uncollected fees associated with these same fee provisions. AB1869 does not impact Victim Restitution that is owed by defendants and ordered by the Court.
A list of fees that will be repealed (and are currently charged by Yolo County) are listed below:
Department
Fee Name
Code Sections
Old Fee Amount
New Fee
Public Defender
Adult Registration Fee
PC987.5
$50
$0
Public Defender
Legal Defense - Adult Specialty Court
PC987.8
$125
$0
Public Defender
Legal Services, Adult, Post Judgment
PC987.8
$125
$0
Public Defender
Legal Services, Adult Felony, settle after Preliminary Hearing
PC987.8
$350
$0
Public Defender
Legal Services, Adult Felony, settle before Preliminary Hearing
PC987.8
$175
$0
Public Defender
Legal Services, Adult Misdemeanor, settle after Trial Conference
PC987.8
$275
$0
Public Defender
Legal Services, Adult Misdemeanor, settle before Trial Conference
PC987.8
$150
$0
Probation
Adult Probation Supervision Fee
PC1203.1b
$30 per month
$0
Probation
Global Positioning System Fee
PC1203.016
$18 per day
$0
Probation
Intercounty Compact Transfers
PC1203.1b
$243 each
$0
Probation
Interstate Compact Transfers
PC1203.1b
$243 each
$0
Probation
Pre-Sentence Investigation Reports
PC1203.1b
$794 per report
$0
Probation
Work program participation fee
PC4024.3, PC1208.2
$340
$0
Sheriff
Electronic Surveillance program (15 days or less to serve)
PC1208.2
$175
$0
Sheriff
Electronic Surveillance program (16 days or more)
PC1208.2
$18 per day
$0
Sheriff
Electronic Surveillance Program Application
PC1208.2
$70 per application
$0
Sheriff
Jail Booking Fee
GC29550
$154.48 per arrestee
$0
Sheriff
Sheriff Working Inmate Program (SWIP) Application
PC1208.2
$45 per application
$0
Based on the legislation, the County could continue to charge these fees to defendants, probationers, or arrestees until June 30, 2021 but then at that time would no longer have the authority to collect and be required to discharge past obligations from these fees. However, based on discussion with the Sheriff, Probation Chief, Public Defender, and Chief Financial Officer, an accelerated implementation may be prudent for a variety of reasons as explained below.
Low collection rate - Currently, depending on the fee, collection rates are ordinarily in the 10-20% range and could be lower than usual as this law will require any uncollected amounts to be discharged on July 1, 2021.
Staff transition - The time between now and July 1, 2021 could be spent with continuing to assess and attempt to collect fees or in an effort to facilitate change to systems and staff duties who formerly worked on fee collection to more value added activities. It seems more sensible to take the later approach and begin this transition earlier.
Public benefit - There would likely be a benefit to citizens in the County being proactive in implementing the legislation and relieving them of the burden of these criminal justice fees in line with the spirit of AB1869.
Fiscal Analysis
Though there are benefits to early implementation of this bill, there is also a financial cost associated with it. In AB1869, it provided for beginning in fiscal year 2021-22, a backfill statewide of $65 million of revenue impacts to Counties which may mitigate the ongoing impact. However, there is currently not a prescribed method for the apportionment of that backfill. An early implementation in fiscal year 2020-21 would mean approximately 8 months of lower fee collection for the County. Based on prior year collections, this impact is estimated to be approximately:
Department
FY2020-21 Impact
Financial Services
$104,333
Probation
$220,200
Public Defender
$6,666
Sheriff
$50,000
Total
$381,199
The fiscal impact of this reduction would be requested to be managed in each departments’ respective budget. Recognizing that departments have already made reductions associated with the impacts of COVID-19, should a department not be able to manage the revenue reduction within their budget, County Financial Services staff would look at 3rd or 4th quarter budget monitoring to recommend appropriating a portion of the Public Safety Contingency to support any shortfall that materializes directly related to this item.
Discharge of Accountability
County staff have not yet had an opportunity to perform or assemble a full analysis of delinquent accounts that may be eligible for discharge. However, based on summary reporting information available currently, this amount is expected to be in the range of $6-8 million.
Recommendation
County staff are thus recommending that the Board take the following actions should they be supportive of an early implementation of AB1869. Should the Board not accept staff’s recommendation, the implementation would occur still by July 1, 2021 as required by law.
1) Authorize Financial Services, Probation, Public Defender, and Sheriff to cease charging and collection of fees contained in AB1869 effective November 3, 2020.
2) Direct Financial Services to formally repeal fees as part of the December, 2020 Master fee update process.
3) Direct Financial Services to discharge accountability for fees repealed by AB1869 starting November 3, 2020 and return to the Board with a summary report of completed discharges.
Collaborations (including Board advisory groups and external partner agencies)
The Department of Financial Services collaborated with the Probation, Public Defender, Sheriff and County Administrator's Office on this item.
Competitive Bid Process
Not applicable.
Fiscal Information
Fiscal impact (see budgetary detail below)
Fiscal Impact of this Expenditure
Total cost of recommended action
Amount budgeted for expenditure
Additional expenditure authority needed
$0
On-going commitment (annual cost)
Source of Funds for this Expenditure
General Fund
$381,199
Further explanation as needed
The financial impact for 2020-21 is estimated to be $381,199.
AB1869 provided for beginning in fiscal year 2021-22, a backfill statewide of $65 million of revenue impacts to Counties which may mitigate the ongoing impact. However, there is currently not a prescribed method for the apportionment of that backfill.
