Courts, probation, public defenders and behavioral health say Prop 36 needs new funding and capacity to work

County and local officials told a California Senate joint hearing that early Prop 36 implementation is producing greater demand for court time, supervision and treatment, and that the May Revision’s current approach does not fill those gaps.

What they told the Legislature: Judicial Council staff, presiding judges and county court administrators said the courts expect thousands of additional felony filings as implementation proceeds and emphasized the extra administrative and judicial workload. "We estimate that the courts will receive about 20,000 felony filings annually that would have been filed as misdemeanors were it not for Prop 36," Francine Byrne of the Judicial Council told the committee, adding that after removing higher‑level felonies the council currently estimates about 15,000 filings will directly affect court workload.

Why that matters: Byrne and San Bernardino Presiding Judge Lisa Rogan described how felony case processing consumes more court time, increases continuances and often requires ongoing judicial hearings and treatment progress reviews, not just a one‑time sentencing event. "The early on impacts that the…