REPORT TO SHASTA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

BOARD MEETING DATE:  February  6, 2018
CATEGORY:  Consent - Law and Justice-10.

SUBJECT:

Memorandum of Understanding between the County of Shasta and the City of Redding for the establishment of and funding for a Community Prosecution Program.

Supervisorial District No. :  ALL

DEPARTMENT CONTACT:  Stephanie Bridgett, District Attorney (530) 245-6300

STAFF REPORT APPROVED BY:  Stephanie Bridgett, District Attorney

RECOMMENDATION

Approve and authorize the Chairman to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the City of Redding providing for establishment of and potential future funding in the amount of $200,000 ($100,000 from the City of Redding and $100,000 from the County) for  the second year of a community prosecution program for the period from the date of signing through June 30, 2019, with one optional one-year extension.

SUMMARY

Approving the recommended actions will provide the potential for continuous funding for a community prosecution program in the District Attorney’s Office to address quality-of-life offenses and chronic offenders for a second year. Targeted offenses will include municipal code violations and other misdemeanor offenses. 

DISCUSSION

On October 3, 2017, the Board of Supervisors accepted a donation in the amount of $225,000 from the Redding Rancheria to allow the District Attorney to hire an additional prosecutor and an additional support staff member to assist in prosecuting quality-of-life crimes. At its meeting on January 23, 2018, the Board of Supervisors adopted a salary resolution and approved a budget amendment to initiate the recruitment process to hire staff for the program.

The proposed MOU addresses the potential for future funding for the program.  The MOU provides for funding in the amount of $100,000 from the County and $100,000 from the City of Redding for the second year of the community prosecution program should the County and City agree to extend the MOU for a second year.   

ALTERNATIVES

The Board could elect to not enter into the MOU.  This would result in the program  potentially not being funded beyond expending the Redding Rancheria donation amount of $225,000 which is estimated to fund the program for only twelve months.

OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT

County Counsel has approved the MOU as to form. Risk Management has reviewed and approved the MOU.  The recommendation has been reviewed by the County Administrative Office.

FINANCING

The initial funding for the first year of the program will come from the $225,000 Redding Rancheria donation.  It is anticipated that funds from the donation will be depleted in mid-to-late Fiscal Year 2018-2019.  Because the exact timing of the funding from the MOU is unknown, a future budget amendment will be necessary to recognize the $100,000 City of Redding revenue from the MOU as well as the $100,000 from the County’s General Fund (or other identified sources as applicable).  At this time, it is anticipated that the County’s $100,000 contribution will come from the County’s General Fund; therefore, there is General Fund impact associated with the recommendation.