Sheriff, Desmond call on county to push for state funding to support Proposition 36

San Diego County jails have logged more than 3,300 bookings on low-level drug and theft charges since a new state law, Proposition 36, took effect and turned what had been misdemeanor crimes into felonies.

That’s put a strain on jail operations, Sheriff Kelly Martinez told the county Board of Supervisors Tuesday. Martinez joined Supervisor Jim Desmond in asking the board to make state funding for Proposition 36 a legislative priority.

Their proposal, which was unanimously approved, directed county officials to push the state for ongoing financial support for law enforcement, the courts and behavioral health services needed to carry out the law.

Proposition 36 was a citizen-led ballot measure heavily supported by Walmart, Target and Home Depot. Campaign ads, showing images of flash-mob robberies, promised voters that harsher penalties would put an end to basic items being locked away in display cases and funnel people repeatedly arrested for drug offenses in treatment. But the measure did not identify a funding source.

The California Legislative Analyst’s Office, which assesses the potential costs of ballot measures, estimated pre-election that Proposition 36 could raise state criminal justice costs by “several tens of millions of dollars to the low hundreds of millions of dollars annually.”

Proposition 36 passed easily with 68% of the vote. But since it took effect on Dec. 18, the bulk of arrests, roughly 77%, have been for drug possession.

Many of these arrestees have long histories of addiction and significant health and mental health challenges. Around 40% are homeless.

Gov. Gavin Newsom — who opposed the measure, arguing that locking up more people would siphon money from community treatment programs — initially refused to include funding for it in this year’s budget.

After pressure from state lawmakers, he agreed to allocate $110 million to courts, behavioral health programs and public defenders.

None of the money was earmarked for jails.

“Our sheriff wants to do her job,” Desmond said, “but she can’t without this funding. The voters supported Prop. 36 because they were tired of seeing no consequences for people committing crimes. We should all agree that the answer, for many, is treatment. We want to get people into treatment and less jail.”

In a September interview, Martinez said her office had already spent about $32 million housing and treating people arrested under Proposition 36. To cover costs, she’s had to redirect money away from infrastructure projects and the planned purchase of a $16 million helicopter.

On Tuesday, the board voted to support Desmond and Martinez’s request after Supervisor Paloma Aguirre introduced an amendment directing county staff to also seek state funding for community-based treatment, case management and reentry support. She also pointed to the burden Proposition 36 has placed on the Public Defender’s Office, which, she said, plays a critical role in connecting defendants to treatment.

“The Sheriff’s Office has a duty to provide care inside (jails), and we recognize the real-world constraints they face as they take on this new treatment responsibility,” she said. “I want to be clear — in-custody care alone cannot be our strategy.”

Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe said she did not support Proposition 36, citing concerns about its impact on county resources. But she said she would back the effort to secure additional state funding. Echoing Aguirre, she said more money needed to go to behavioral health services “rather than law enforcement alone.”

“At the end of the day, it passed, and there is a burden to the county,” Montgomery Steppe said. “As we’ve been discussing all day, additional responsibilities keep being put on local government, and we have to find ways to fill those gaps.”

Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer also noted she did not support Proposition 36 because of its potential impact on county services. She said many people she’s talked to about the law tell her they supported it because they hoped it would expand drug treatment.

“And I want to make sure that that is something we continue to focus on,” she said.