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Los Angeles County district attorney outlines tech investments, diversion support and crackdown on illegal cannabis in 2025 budget briefing
Summary
District Attorney Nathan Hoffman told supervisors his 2025 budget request centers on technology (including race‑blind charging), rebuilding staff after attrition, prosecution of illegal cannabis operations, and support for mental‑health diversion — while warning of federal cuts to victim services.
District Attorney Nathan Hoffman told the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 21 that his office’s 2025 budget priorities include new technology to support charging decisions, recruitment to replace lost prosecutors, and stepped-up enforcement against illegal cannabis operations.
Hoffman said the office will implement a race‑blind charging pilot — a system that removes race/ethnicity identifiers from an investigative report so a deputy district attorney can make charging decisions without that information, then compare results after the details are reinserted. The Yolo County pilot, Hoffman said, showed a change in charging decisions in fewer than 5% of cases; he said the county has selected a vendor and expects the system to be live by the end of the month, with licensing costs in the neighborhood of $580,000.
The DA described recruitment as urgent: he said the office is down roughly 200 deputy district attorneys (about 20% of the workforce) and is hiring part‑time, experienced prosecutors to fill gaps while pursuing full‑time hires. He also told the board the office will prioritize support for victims following recent federal cuts to Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding and that the Bureau of Victim Services currently has 14 open positions.
Hoffman also briefed the board on diversion and alternatives to jail for people with serious mental illness. He said he supports diversion into locked treatment facilities for some defendants rather than long jail stays, noted the county jails hold more than 4,000 people, and urged the board and state or federal partners to fund locked mental‑health facilities that can provide sustained care.
On juvenile alternatives, Hoffman described Pine Grove — a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/Cal Fire fire camp program — as a promising option for some young people, but said eligibility limits (SYTF designation) and voluntary participation constrain referrals. He urged collaboration among prosecutors, public defenders and probation to increase use where appropriate.
On illegal cannabis, Hoffman called the market a multi‑hundred‑million‑dollar county problem and said the DA will prioritize enforcement that includes civil asset forfeiture and following criminal proceeds; he also warned about fentanyl being mixed into illicit cannabis products. He said the office will work with cities, state and federal partners and with licensed cannabis businesses to identify and prosecute illegal operators.
Several supervisors pressed Hoffman on mental‑health diversion capacity, Pine Grove eligibility, victim services funding, and the application of new technologies. Hoffman said grants will be pursued to backfill VOCA and other lost funding, and that the office intends to produce evaluation metrics for the race‑blind charging rollout.
The presentation detailed operational constraints — the attrition figure the DA cited, technology licensing costs and grant shortfalls — and left policy decisions about building locked treatment capacity and related funding to future board actions.
Hoffman closed by reiterating the office’s commitment to public safety balanced with due process and to expanding services for victims and diversion where appropriate.
