SB 319

Existing law requires the Judicial Council to collect and maintain statistics, and to publish them at least on a yearly basis, about the compliance of the superior court of each county and each branch court with the standards for the timely disposition of cases, as specified. Existing law requires criminal justice agencies to compile records and data, including a summary of arrests, pretrial proceedings, the nature and disposition of criminal charges, sentencing, incarceration, rehabilitation, and release, about criminal offenders. Existing law requires agencies to report this information to the Department of Justice for each arrest made. This bill would require the Department of Justice to collect and publish, as specified, on its internet website annual statistical reports providing monthly information for each county related to convictions of certain statutes pertaining to, among other things, petty theft and possession of a hard drug, including, by month, the number of people convicted of these statutes and, for each conviction, whether the conviction was classified as a misdemeanor or a felony. This bill would also require every county to submit to the department specified data and information, including the county’s annual allocation and expenditure of state and federal funds on sheriff, probation, and court activities, by category and specific grant program, including reimbursement. The bill would require the department, commencing on January 1, 2027, to post this data and information on its internet website. This bill would require, for each person charged under a certain statute pertaining to possession of a hard drug, each superior court to submit specified metrics to the Judicial Council. For each person charged under the above provisions, the bill would require each superior court to submit the outcomes of judicial review proceedings mandated by those statutes, as specified, to the Judicial Council. Commencing January 1, 2027, the bill would require the Judicial Council to publish an annual report related to the specified metrics on its internet website. By requiring counties to submit specified data to the Department of Justice, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.