To: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): District Attorney
Staff Name and Phone Number: Shane Lewis 565-3510; Carla Rodriguez 565-3098
Vote Requirement: 4/5th
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Addition of 1.0 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Time-Limited Deputy District Attorney IV Position in the District Attorney's Office
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Adopt a Resolution amending the Department Allocation List of the District Attorney's Office through June 30, 2029, effective September 16, 2025.
B) Adopt a Resolution adjusting the Fiscal Year 2025-26 Adopted Budget for the District Attorney's Office to add expenditure appropriations for the new 1.0 FTE Deputy District Attorney III and the associated reimbursement from Department of Health Services
(4/5 vote required).
end
Executive Summary:
This item requests authorization to add one full-time, time-limited Deputy District Attorney IV to evaluate, advise, and/or handle felony cases in which individuals have been found incompetent to stand trial and are eligible for diversion under Penal Code Section 1001.35, et Seq., Diversion of Individuals with Mental Disorders. This position will be funded by a Department of Health Services program with California Department of State Hospitals where a portion of funds set aside for Justice Partners are to be used to advance collective efforts to divert felony offenders prior to commitment at the State Hospital. The program between Department of Health Services and California Department of State Hospitals will provide funding for this partnership through Fiscal Year 2028-2029.
Discussion:
Department of Health Services has received funding from California Department of State Hospitals to serve individuals who have been charged with a felony, found to be incompetent to stand trial, and who are eligible for diversion under Penal Code Section 1001.35, et Seq., Diversion of Individuals with Mental Disorders. A portion of those funds are set aside for Justice Partners who will use the funds to advance collective efforts to divert felony offenders, prior to commitment at the State Hospital or entering the Justice System as a result of being found incompetent to stand trial. The Justice Partners, comprised of the District Attorney, Public Defender, Probation, and Superior Court, will work in partnership with Department of Health Services toward the mutual goal of diverting qualified offenders away from the justice system by providing long-term community mental health treatment and avoiding criminal charges and institutionalization. This partnership is memorialized in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Department of Health Services and the Justice Partners, which is also before your Board today, September 16, 2025, for approval.
The District Attorney, Public Defender, Probation, and Superior Court are committed to designating specially trained staff, familiar with community mental health treatment options, to oversee cases where felony offenders have been diagnosed with certain mental illnesses and are not a significant safety risk to the community, and work in partnership with Department of Health Services to divert these individuals to long-term mental health treatment and avoid criminal charges.
The District Attorney will assign one Deputy District Attorney III (DDA III) to evaluate, advise, and/or handle those felony cases that meet the requirements of this program. The DDA III will handle or coordinate the handling of each matter from the declaration of doubt, through all applicable hearings including the competency hearing, involuntary medication hearing, and any subsequent hearings on interests of justice, diversion, placement, and restoration.
The assigned DDA III will work collaboratively with the justice partners and members of the felony prosecution team to identify those individuals who are incompetent to stand trial, but who can be safely treated in the community, and will aide in streamlining the process for those individuals to ensure timely and adequate delivery of services.
The assigned DDA III will represent the District Attorney in Mental Health Diversion (MHD) Court and will be the primary contact for MHD court and FACT. They will provide in-house training on topics related to competency, community-based restoration options, and mental health diversion, and will regularly participate in county-wide mental health partnership meetings.
Strategic Plan:
N/A
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
No prior board actions.
FISCAL SUMMARY
Expenditures
FY25-26 Adopted
FY26-27 Projected
FY27-28 Projected
Budgeted Expenses
Additional Appropriation Requested
$304,175
$304,175
$304,175
Total Expenditures
$304,175
$304,175
$304,175
Funding Sources
General Fund/WA GF
State/Federal
$304,175
$304,175
$304,175
Fees/Other
Use of Fund Balance
General Fund Contingencies
Total Sources
$304,175
$304,175
$304,175
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Salary and benefits expense for FY2025/26 is $301,871 and one-time IT-related expenses are anticipated to be $2,304. The funding for these additional expenditures comes from the California Department of State Hospitals, mechanized by the MOU between the Department of Health Services and Justice Partner departments that is also before the Board today. No new General Fund appropriations are being requested with this action.
Staffing Impacts:
Position Title (Payroll Classification)
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step)
Additions (Number)
Deletions (Number)
Deputy District Attorney IV
$15,898.64 - $19,324.99
1.0
0.0
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
The addition of the dedicated Mental Health Diversion DDA III will enable the District Attorney's Office to be more effective in addressing Mental Health Diversion cases in partnership with the Court, Probation, and Public Defender's Office, establishing expertise within attorney staff to expedite the matters and provide in-house training.
Attachments:
Resolution A - Position
Resolution B - Budget
DHS - Justice Partner MOU
DHS - Justice Partner MOU - Unsigned
Related Items "On File" with the Clerk of the Board:
N/A