(a)
The County Resentencing Pilot Program (pilot) is hereby established to support and evaluate a collaborative approach to exercising prosecutorial resentencing discretion pursuant to Section 1172.1. Participants in the pilot shall include a county district attorney’s office, a county public defender’s office, and may include a community-based organization in each county pilot site.
(b)
Each participating district attorney’s office shall do all of the following:
(1)
Develop and implement a written policy which, at minimum, outlines the factors, criteria, and processes that shall be used to identify, investigate, and recommend individuals for recall and resentencing. The district attorney’s office may take into account any input provided by the participating public defender’s office or a qualified contracted community-based organization in developing this policy.
(2)
Identify, investigate, and recommend the recall and resentencing of incarcerated persons consistent with its written policy.
(3)
Direct all funding provided for the pilot be used for the purposes of resentencing individuals pursuant to the pilot, including, but not limited
to, ensuring adequate staffing of deputy district attorneys, paralegals, and data analysts who will coordinate obtaining records and case files, support data entry, assist in the preparation and filing of pleadings, coordinate with victim services, and any other tasks required to complete the processing and facilitation of resentencing recommendations and to comply with the requirements of the pilot.
(c)
A participating district attorney’s office may contract with a qualifying community-based organization for the duration of the pilot. The community-based organization shall have experience working with currently or formerly incarcerated individuals and their support networks, and shall have expertise in at least two of the following areas:
(1)
Supporting and developing prerelease and reentry plans.
(2)
Family
reunification services.
(3)
Referrals to postrelease wraparound programs, including, but not limited to, employment, education, housing, substance use disorder, and mental health service programs.
(4)
Restorative justice programs.
(d)
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the discretion or authority granted to prosecutors under Section 1172.1.
(e)
All funding provided to a participating public defender’s office shall be used for the purposes of supporting the resentencing of individuals pursuant to the
pilot, including, but not limited to, ensuring adequate staffing of deputy public defenders and other support staff to represent incarcerated persons under consideration for resentencing, identifying and recommending incarcerated persons to the district attorney’s office for resentencing consideration, and developing reentry and release plans. A participating public defender’s office may provide input to the county district attorney’s office regarding the factors, criteria, and processes to be used by the district attorney in their exercise of discretion under Section 1172.1.
(f)
Each participating district attorney’s office shall utilize the same template developed by the evaluator to identify and track
specific measures consistent with the goals of this section. The template shall be finalized no later than October 1, 2021. The measures shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1)
A summary of expenditures by each entity receiving funds.
(2)
A summary of any implementation delays or challenges, as well as steps being taken to address them.
(3)
The total number of people incarcerated in state prison on the first day of each reporting year for convictions obtained in the reporting county.
(4)
The factors and criteria used to identify cases to be considered for prosecutor-initiated resentencing.
(5)
The total number of cases considered by a pilot participant for
prosecutor-initiated resentencing. For each case, information collected shall include the date the case was considered, along with the defendant’s race, ethnicity, gender, age at commitment, categories of controlling offenses, date of prison admission, earliest possible release date or minimum eligible parole date, and date of birth.
(6)
The total number of prosecutor-initiated resentencing recommendations by the pilot participant to the court for recall of sentence, date of referral, and information on the defendant’s race, ethnicity, gender, age at commitment, groups of controlling offenses, age at time of recall consideration, time served, and time remaining.
(7)
The total number of prosecutor-initiated resentencing recommendations by the pilot participant in which the court responded, the date the court considered each case referred, how many cases the court considered, and
information on the defendant’s race, ethnicity, gender, age at commitment, groups of controlling offenses, age at time of recall consideration, time served, and time remaining.
(8)
The total number of prosecutor-initiated resentencing recommendations denied by the court, and for each case the date of the denial and the reasons for the denial, and information on the defendant’s race, ethnicity, gender, age at commitment, groups of controlling offenses, age at time of recall consideration, time served, and time remaining.
(9)
The total number of people who were resentenced, the date of resentencing, and information on the defendant’s race, ethnicity, gender, age at commitment, groups of controlling offenses, age at time of recall consideration, time served, and time remaining.
(10)
The total number of people released
from state prison due to prosecutor-initiated resentencing by the pilot participant, how many were released from state prison and the date of release, and information on the defendant’s race, ethnicity, gender, age at commitment, groups of controlling offenses, age at time of recall consideration, time served, and time remaining.
(g)
The participating district attorneys’ offices shall provide the data listed in subdivision (f) to the evaluator on a quarterly basis.
(h)
To the extent possible, the evaluation of data reported by the participating district attorneys’ offices shall be conducted in a manner that allows for comparison between the pilot participant sites. This includes, but is not limited to, collection and reporting of data at the individual case level using the same definitions. Each pilot participant shall provide any information necessary to the evaluator’s
completion of its analysis.
(i)
Notwithstanding any other law, state entities, including, but not limited to, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the State Department of Social Services, and the Department of Child Support Services, shall provide any information needed for the completion of the evaluator’s analysis.
(j)
The evaluator shall do all of the following:
(1)
For each case considered by a pilot participant, calculate the time served by an individual and the time remaining on their sentence.
(2)
Analyze the data and prepare two preliminary reports and a final report to the Legislature. The first preliminary report shall be submitted to the Legislature on or before October 1, 2022. The second preliminary report shall be submitted to
the Legislature on or before October 1, 2023. The final report shall be submitted to the Legislature on or before January 31, 2025.
(3)
As part of the evaluation, the evaluator shall conduct, at minimum, four assessments, as follows:
(A)
An implementation assessment shall be conducted to determine if pilot activities were implemented as intended. This assessment shall include semi-structured in-depth interviews with all relevant stakeholders, including, but not limited to, representatives from the district attorney agencies, public defender agencies and community-based organizations participating in the pilot jurisdictions. The assessment shall document the different strategies the pilot sites used, the development and implementation of the written resentencing policies and procedures, which cases were prioritized for resentencing and the referral process, and factors that
facilitated or hindered implementation.
(B)
A cost study that shall estimate the resources required to implement the pilot activities, to include both new expenditures on personnel and other goods and services, and the reallocation of resources from prior activities to the pilot activities. The assessment shall include total cost and cost per case.
(C)
An assessment of the estimated amount of time by which an individual’s earliest possible release date or minimum eligible parole date was advanced due to prosecutor-initiated resentencing, including a descriptive analysis of the process of cases from initial recommendation to final resentencing outcomes to document points of attrition in the process and allow for comparison between individuals based on age, gender, race, offense, and county. This assessment shall include a description of recidivism outcomes for individuals released
from prison, based on definitions created in collaboration with pilot participants. This assessment shall include a calculation of the total number of days of incarceration avoided, and amount of time by which the person’s earliest possible release date or minimum eligible parole date was advanced due to prosecutor-initiated resentencing for those individuals released from prison using data maintained by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation data systems.
(D)
An assessment which compares, to the extent feasible, records at the individual case level with county or state administrative data files that capture utilization of government benefit and social service programs, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and other government cash or in-kind social services, and court-ordered child support and visitation. The evaluator shall document changes in these indicators at the individual
case level during the evaluation period, in order to determine whether any observed changes can be attributed to the pilot. The evaluator shall combine the descriptive information on outcomes from the third and fourth evaluation components with the cost analysis findings from the second component to estimate the potential for cost savings to state and local governments from the pilot activities. The evaluator shall, using the data collected from the pilot, estimate the potential for cost savings to state and local governments from the pilot activities.
(k)
The pilot term shall begin on September 1, 2021, and end on September 1, 2024. The evaluation term shall begin on September 1, 2021, and end on January 31, 2025.