Voters across California last year overwhelmingly voted to pass Prop. 36 – a new law that aims to increase punishment on certain drug and theft crimes and is expected to increase the costs for prisons, jails and courts.
In November, about 68% of Golden State voters approved the ballot measure, which creates a new court process where people charged with a drug possession crime in certain circumstances will be forced to go to rehab or serve jail time.
The new state law, which went into effect on Dec. 18, rolls back parts of a measure adopted by voters in 2014 – dubbed Prop. 47 – which turned petty theft and some drug possession crimes into a misdemeanor.
[Read: Orange County Debates How California Should Address Street Crime]
It comes after a decline in property crimes and drug felony arrests in OC, according to state data.
Data from the California Department of Justice show overall property crimes in Orange County, which include burglary, motor vehicle theft and shoplifting, have dropped from 68,237 in 2015 to 57,933 in 2023 – a 15% decrease.
According to the State Department of Justice, arrests for felony drug offenses dropped from 9,458 in 2014 to 1,735 in 2023 – a nearly 82% difference – in Orange County after adoption of Prop. 47.
Supporters of Prop. 36, like the California League of Cities, say the law will keep local communities safer and curb substance abuse by requiring offenders to get treatment.
Connor Medina, regional public affairs manager for the OC division of the league, said the overwhelming support for the proposition is indicative of how people feel about addressing street crime in California regardless of political affiliation.
“It’s clear that the temperature around public safety has reached a boiling point,” Medina said in a phone interview.
“I think that voters recognize that Prop. 36 would be a helpful tool for law enforcement to help combat property crimes, to help combat deadly drug trafficking, and real issues affecting members of their community. I think that’s what we can glean from the tea leaves there.”
The League of Cities – the oldest municipal advocacy group in the state – lobbies for the interests of cities at the state level and provides training programs for local officials.
Medina also said the proposition will improve the quality of life for people in Orange County and help local law enforcement address crime.
“Prop 36 is going to enable them to charge serial offenders, the habitual offenders who are part of these more sophisticated operations, to receive more appropriate penalties for those offenses,” he said.
Critics of the measure, like the Santa Ana-based nonprofit Chispa, fear the new law will overcrowd prisons, reignite the war on drugs and waste millions of taxpayer dollars on jails and prisons.
Bulmaro Vicente, policy and political director for Chispa, said the new law will have a tremendous impact on Orange County.
“We’re going to see a lot more Black and brown folks fueled into the criminal justice system and I think we’re also going to be seeing a decrease in funding for restorative justice programs,” he said in a phone interview.
“These reentry programs have kept a lot of people out of jail and have helped them really build back their lives.”
Chispa is a nonprofit that advocates for policies and political candidates with a focus on issues facing young Latinos and Latinas in Orange County .
Vicente expressed concerns over how local cities and the county will react to the passage of the law and said local governments should still fund programs, like Project Kinship, that provide a reentry program for people coming out of jail.
Ahead of the election the Orange County Board of Supervisors and a host of OC cities including Santa Ana, Westminster, Laguna Beach, Fountain Valley, Brea, Stanton, Seal Beach and Villa Park passed resolutions in support of the measure.
[Read: Orange County Supervisors Jump Into Street Crime Debate]
At the same time, a host of Orange County cities have also been bolstering their anti-camping laws after the Supreme Court overturned a decision that required cities to have shelter beds available before police officers can clear out homeless camps.
At a December press conference, Gov. Gavin Newsom – a critic of the measure – said there was no money attached to Prop. 36 to help fund the implementation of the new measure and it lacks the necessary infrastructure of rehab facilities in California to help people get sober.
“It’s a drug policy reform, fundamentally, that could allow for three-year prison sentences for nonviolent possession of drugs for people that don’t complete residential drug treatment programs of which there are 15 counties that don’t have one and those counties that do have them, they’re struggling,” he said.
Medina said the implementation of the proposition is an investment voters clearly want the state to make.
“Through the state budget process and other means, we’re going to have to figure out exactly how that happens,” he said.
What Does Prop. 36 Do?
The new law converts petty theft from a misdemeanor to a felony if the offender has two or more theft-related convictions like shoplifting or burglary. It could be punishable by up to three years in a county jail or prison.
Prop. 36 also lengthens felony sentences for theft or vandalism by three more years if a group of three or more people committed the crime together.
It also ups the punishment for certain drug related crimes.
The law would require felonies for selling fentanyl, meth, heroin or cocaine be served in a state prison.
Prop. 36 will also require the courts to warn people they could be charged with murder if they’re convicted for selling or providing illegal drugs to someone who died from an overdose.
People charged with other drug related crimes could also be sentenced to court-mandated rehab instead of being convicted of a misdemeanor.
This includes people who are convicted for possession of fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine or cocaine and had two or more previous convictions for either possessing or selling drugs.
If they finish the mandated treatment, their charges will be dropped.
If they don’t, they could face up to three years in a state prison.
What Will Prop. 36 Cost?
According to the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office, Prop. 36 will likely increase California’s criminal justice costs by potentially up to hundreds of millions of dollars a year because it will increase the state prison population and the state’s court workload.
They also estimate Prop. 36 will increase local criminal justice costs by tens of millions of dollars for similar reasons.
The analyst’s office says the policy would also reduce how much the state has to spend on truancy, dropout prevention, mental health and drug treatment and victim services.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.