The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday backed a plan to hire eight deputy city attorneys and seven law clerks to handle heightened workloads stemming from the recent passage of Proposition 47.
City attorneys expect their caseload to rise by 17 percent as a result of the measure, which downgrades many theft and drug possession crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, a category that is handled in Los Angeles by city prosecutors.
Out of the 13,500 new drug and theft-related cases that will now be handled annually by the city rather than the district attorney’s office, city prosecutors expect to file about 8,800 cases. An additional 10,000 outstanding warrant cases are also expected to flow to the city, officials with the City Attorney’s Office said.
Los Angeles and San Diego are the only cities affected in this way by the proposition. In other municipalities, misdemeanor cases are handled by district attorneys.
The council voted 14-1 in favor of the city attorney’s hiring request, with Councilman Bernard Parks casting the dissenting vote.
If approved by the mayor, the additional staff would cost $437,582 over six months and be transferred out of the city’s reserves.
Proposition 47 requires misdemeanor instead of felony sentences for petty theft, receiving stolen property and forging or writing bad checks when the value or amount involved is $950 or less. It also requires misdemeanor instead of felony sentences for certain drug possession offenses.
— City News Service