SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Retail theft and fentanyl have dominated the conversation among Californians. In response, voters passed Prop 36, which creates harsher penalties for offenders.
After a decade, California is changing how it deals with crime. Prop 36 repeals many elements of Prop 47, originally passed in 2014.
Right now, if a person steals property worth $950 or less, it’s a misdemeanor. Under Prop 36, it could be charged as a felony if the person has two prior convictions. It also increases penalties for some drug charges.
Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper has been a strong supporter of the proposition that aims to get tougher on retail theft.
“It gives us a tool to get the most frequent people that are out there stealing. What I like is if we do arrest someone and they do have a drug problem, if they get clean and go to drug court, that record can go away,” said Cooper.
ABC10 asked if the county could handle an increase in the county jail population as felony cases could take longer to handle and under Prop 36 sentences could be lengthened.
“We will make it work. This is something the citizens wanted,” Cooper said.
Prop 36 also requires those convicted of selling drugs be given a warning that if they sell and a person dies, they can be charged with murder. Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho has pushed for this, especially as more counties pursue murder charges against fentanyl dealers.
“We prosecuted seven people this year for murder for selling fentanyl. We expect to prosecute even more under this law,” Ho said.
Ho says he will appoint someone in his office to manage Prop 36 with local law enforcement.
“We will be able to handle capacity. In fact, right now, I’m in contact with the sheriff's department, the police department, with county behavioral health to set up a plan to really implement this,” Ho said.
He says Prop 36 can be implemented Dec. 18 and what that looks like from his office is increased enforcement, making sure the messaging reaches the public about the new law.
According to the Legislative Analyst's Office, a nonpartisan fiscal and policy advisor, Proposition 36 would increase state criminal justice costs, likely ranging from several tens of millions of dollars to the low hundreds of millions of dollars each year (annually). That was one of several reasons many people opposed it.
WATCH MORE ON ABC10: 2024 Ballot Prop 36 Explained
