To: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Probation Department
Staff Name and Phone Number: Chief Vanessa Fuchs, 707-565-2732
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Public Safety Realignment Implementation Plan for Fiscal Year 25-26
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Accept the Community Corrections Partnership’s Fiscal Year 25-26 Public Safety Realignment Implementation Plan.
end
Executive Summary:
This document presents the Sonoma County Community Corrections Partnership’s (CCP) Public Safety Realignment Implementation Plan for FY 25-26. This plan is required as part of the 2011 Public Safety Realignment Act (AB109), which shifted certain types of the adult prison population from the state to counties. Under this legislation, funding, derived from sales tax, was provided to counties to serve this population. The legislation further required the establishment of a CCP committee to oversee uses of this fund and approve the annual implementation plan, which is then to be accepted by the Board of Supervisors. The CCP committee is made up of representatives from: Probation, Sheriff, Petaluma Police Department, District Attorney, Public Defender, Superior Court of Sonoma, Department of Health Services, County Administrator’s Office and Office of Education.
The annual implementation plan outlines projected revenue and service levels, highlights new or expanded CCP programs, and presents the recommended budget. The CCP executive committee approved the plan at its July 28, 2025, meeting.
In balancing increasing costs with only a small increase in realignment revenue in FY 25-26 and a one-time use of accumulated fund balance, the CCP opted to maintain funding for all programs funded in FY 24-25. Additionally, it increased time-limited funding for the Day Reporting Center and added ongoing funding for a 0.5 FTE Sheriff Deputy in the Program Unit. Overall, FY 25-26 recommended expenditures are $1.2 million higher than FY 24-25.
FY 25-26 recommended CCP expenses will exceed projected revenue by $3.9 million. This shortfall will be covered with accumulated fund balance, which was estimated to be $18.1 million at the end of FY24-25 when the plan was developed.
Discussion:
Assembly Bill 109 and the FY 25-26 Realignment Implementation Plan
Assembly Bill 109, known as the 2011 Public Safety Realignment Act, is the cornerstone of California’s legislative efforts to reduce adult prison populations and close the revolving door of justice system involvement for individuals convicted of less serious offenses. This legislation shifted responsibility for several types of individuals with felony convictions from the state to counties. For individuals whose current and prior convictions are for legally designated non-serious, non-sexual, and non-violent felonies, courts now impose sentences of incarceration in county jails, community supervision by county probation departments, or jail time followed by community supervision. To help offset the financial burden to counties managing the increased caseload, the state provides funding derived from a 1.0625% state sales tax, specifically designated to be used for community corrections partnerships and other public safety and health services programs.
Consistent with legislation, each year, the Sonoma County Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) develops a realignment implementation plan intended to utilize this funding to ensure sufficient detention capacity for those convicted of more serious offenses while promoting evidence-based rehabilitation and supportive services for those who can be safely supervised in the community.
Consistent with prior years, the FY 25-26 plan allocates realignment funding to the Sheriff’s Office, Probation Department, Health Services, Human Services, District Attorney, and Public Defender. Major CCP programs include the Day Reporting Center, pretrial services, detention, substance use disorder treatment, case prosecution and defense, and program evaluation.
Realigned Populations
During a snapshot point in time in June 2025, of the 716 total inmates in the county jail, 103 individuals (14.3%) were realigned under AB 109. Concurrently, the Probation Department was supervising 478 realigned individuals in the community. This represents a combined total of 581 realigned individuals under local jurisdiction who, prior to realignment, would have been supervised by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Additionally, Probation was monitoring 665 individuals released to pretrial supervision.
Implementation Plan Overview
The CCP’s FY 25-26 annual implementation plan is summarized below by major program type.
1) Custody - $6,209,825 (27% of budget). 18.0 FTE. Jail unit housing for realigned inmates.
2) Community-Based Programming -$4,009,405 (18% of total budget). 14.75 FTE. Programs that support realigned individuals on community supervision, such as the Day Reporting Center, transitional housing, mental health and substance use disorder treatment, employment training, and educational assistance.
3) Pretrial Services -$3,983,563 (17% of total budget). 12.5 FTE. Provides risk assessments for individuals booked into jail and community-based monitoring of defendants awaiting trial
4) Community Supervision -$3,377,086 (15% of total budget). 12.0 FTE. Supervision of realigned individuals.
5) Parole Revocation Hearings -$2,305,632 (10% of total budget). 9.5 FTE. District Attorney and Public Defender staff to handle the additional workload created by transferring parole revocation hearings from the State Board of Parole Hearings to local courts. Funding comes first from the District Attorney/Public Defender dedicated apportionments account, with the CCP funding the remaining portion, if any, up to the approved budget amount.
6) In-Custody Programming - $2,239,422 (10% of total budget). 1.5 FTE. Rehabilitative programming for realigned inmates.
7) Administration -$567,726 (2% of total budget). 3.0 FTE (2.0 FTE ongoing and 1.0 FTE time limited). Provides administrative, budgetary, legal, and analytical support to the CCP.
8) Data Management & Evaluation -$201,283 (1% of total budget). 0.5 FTE. Services to capture, analyze, and report data which includes realigned individuals.
Service Levels
Responding to a growing fund balance, as well as unmet criminal justice system needs, and reductions in state funding in specific areas, the CCP approved a robust level of programming in FY 25-26. In addition to continuing all FY 24-25 programs in FY 25-26, the CCP increased on-going funding for a 0.5 FTE Sheriff Deputy in the Programs Unit and one-time funding for the Day Reporting Center (DRC) for a two-year period. These programs are described in greater detail below. The committee increased time-limited funding for the DRC to offset an anticipated reduction in state funding for that program. The time-limited funding will allow the CCP committee to re-evaluate this use of funds once more information is known about the state funding source, and based on future budget demands.
Day Reporting Center Funding
The Day Reporting Center (DRC) serves as an alternative to detention for eligible adults in the criminal justice system, acting as Sonoma County’s hub for evidence-based programming for realigned and felony probationers. By promoting behavior change, the DRC aims to reduce recidivism. The program, managed by Probation Department staff, offers:
• Cognitive behavioral programming
• Substance use treatment
• Life skills training
• Employment and educational services
• Eligibility support for public benefits
For several years, the Community Corrections Performance Incentive Fund (CCPIF) maintained a sufficient fund balance to support a portion of the Day Reporting Center (DRC). However, due to anticipated modifications in the funding formula impacting funding from the state, the CCPIF is no longer be able to fund the DRC at the same level beginning in FY 25-26. As a result, Probation requested that the Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) restore previously reduced funding for the DRC.
0.5 FTE Sheriff Programs Deputy
The Sheriff’s Office operates a Programs Unit which coordinates the delivery of services to Sonoma County’s incarcerated population, including but not limited to education (SRJC courses and the Five Keys Charter HS), recreation, enrichment programs, literacy, an electronic law library, anger management classes, yoga, art therapy, parenting and job skills, puppy raising, and support in connecting families. Program offerings also include the PATHs program, Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT) courses, therapeutic groups and religious group meetings.
To provide the wide variety of programming to incarcerated persons, the Programs Unit relies heavily on the Programs Deputy. This position is responsible for reviewing the 700+ incarcerated individuals for programming eligibility, ensuring safety and security in the facility with movement between classes, scheduling classes for all programming, maintaining records of enrollment and participant progress, processing milestones in accordance with California Penal Code Section 4019, managing tablet resources, responding to requests from incarcerated persons, processing religious requests, completing pro-per requests, liaising with 300+ program providers, facilitating inmate voting during elections, and providing trainings for safety and security and PREA compliance for providers in the facility. Historically, this position was funded by the Inmate Welfare Trust Fund (IWT), however, revenue for that fund has significantly declined in recent years as commissions on incarcerated persons’ phone calls, a main funding source, can no longer be collected. As a result, the CCP elected to provide funding for this position to retain these services.
BUDGET OVERVIEW
Revenue
For FY 25-26, Sonoma County will receive a projected $18.4 million in revenue from state sales tax, slightly more than the $18 million projected in FY24-25.
Growth in funding to the CCP fluctuates widely from year to year. Since realignment began in 2011, it has ranged from zero in FY 20-21 to $4.7 million in FY 21-22.
FY 25-26 Realignment Budget and Projection
In FY 25-26, the CCP will receive a projected $18,449,032 of revenue from the state, as follows:
1. CCP base funding of $17,495,189 plus $161,657 in growth* (attributable to FY 24-25)
2. District Attorney/Public Defender sub-funds base funding of $777,881 plus $14,305* in growth (attributable to FY 24-25)
* Per state statute, when growth funding occurs, counties must transfer 10% of it to a Local Innovation Subaccount, which the Board of Supervisors may use to fund any activity that is otherwise allowable for any of the underlying accounts that fund the innovation subaccount. Expenditure decisions for the Local Innovation Subaccount are determined by the Board of Supervisors.
Budget Changes between FY 24-25 and FY 25-26
Compared to the FY 24-25 adopted budget, the overall FY 25-26 adopted budget increased by 6% from $21,684,990 to $22,893,942. The 6% increase is made up of 4% for the two new items described above and 2% associated with salary and benefits increase. There were no reduced or eliminated programs from FY 24-25 to FY 25-26.
The CCP decided to maintain a mostly status quo budget, only approving a few new requests for funding in FY 25-26, which, considering inflation expectations, increases FY 25-26 budgeted expenditures by $1.2 million and creates a projected structural deficit of $3.9 million per year beginning in FY 25-26.
CCP’s fund balance has grown to an estimated FY 24-25 year--end amount of $18.1 million. Compared to projected revenue, the CCP budgeted $22,893,942 of expenditures, which if fully expended, would decrease the FY 25-26 year-end fund balance to $14,165,998.
Conclusion
The CCP’s plan seeks to protect public safety by ensuring sufficient jail capacity for realigned individuals requiring detention while focusing on evidence-based detention alternatives and support services to rehabilitate those who can be safely supervised in the community. The plan also continues to support the pretrial program, which reduces the jail population while protecting public safety.
Strategic Plan:
This item directly supports the County’s Five-year Strategic Plan and is aligned with the following pillar, goal, and objective.
Pillar: Healthy and Safe Communities
Goal: Goal 5: Continue to invest in public safety so that residents and visitors feel safe in our community.
Objective: Objective 4: Expand detention alternatives with the goal of reducing the jail population, from pre-pandemic levels, by 15% at the end of 2022, while simultaneously reducing recidivism amongst the supervised offender population.
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
August 16, 2011 to November 5, 2024: The Board accepted the CCP’s Annual Realignment Implementation Plan and Budget.
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY25-26 Adopted |
FY26-27 Projected |
FY27-28 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
$22,893,942 |
$23,877,669 |
$24,145,807 |
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
|
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
$22,893,942 |
$23,877,669 |
$24,145,807 |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
|
|
|
State/Federal |
$18,449,033 |
$19,638,804 |
$19,068,170 |
|
Fees/Other |
$493,603 |
$387,542 |
$281,480 |
|
Use of Fund Balance |
$3,951,306 |
$3,851,323 |
$4,796,157 |
|
General Fund Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
$22,893,942 |
$23,877,669 |
$24,145,807 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
All County departments with AB 109-funded programs incorporated their portion of the realignment budget into their respective FY 25-26 adopted budgets. All expenditures are fully covered by state 2011 Public Safety Realignment funds.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None
Attachments:
FY 25-26 CCP Public Safety Realignment Implementation Plan.pdf
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None