To: Board of Supervisors
From: Public Defender
Agenda Section: Consent
Vote Requirement: 4/5th
SUBJECT:title
Supplemental Budget for the Public Defender California County Resentencing Pilot Program for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-25 in the Amount of $47,575 (4/5 Vote Required)
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RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Approve a Supplemental Budget (Attachment 1) for the carry forward of the California County Resentencing Pilot Program in the amount of $47,575 in budget unit 1100-219200 for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-25 (4/5 Vote Required).
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STRATEGIC PLAN:
This action supports the following areas of your Board's Strategic Plan.
Area of Focus: Safe & Healthy Communities
Strategic Plan Category: 1001 -Support and sustain partnerships between public safety and partner agencies to enhance public safety in our communities
DISCUSSION:
The California County Resentencing Pilot Program was created to promote and assess a collaborative approach to utilizing prosecutorial discretion for resentencing. Participants in each county include the district attorney's office, the public defender's office and community-based organizations. The primary goal is to lower incarceration costs by releasing individuals who have served lengthy sentences and no longer present a risk to public safety. In Oct. 2021, the Humboldt County Public Defender's Office (HCPD) was allocated $240,000 for the program (Attachment 2). Selecting potential resentencing candidates requires extensive interviews with inmates in California facilities, their families, and reviewing the original crime and much more. It was determined the best use of those funds was hiring a contract investigator with extensive experience.
In preparing the FY 2024-25 budget in April 2024, the HCPD underestimated the amount of funds that would remain unspent and need to be carried forward from FY 2023-24 to FY 2024-25. At the time of projecting the amount to be carried forward, HCPD ant...
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