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Committee approves funding plan to implement Buffen settlement; debates police overtime and staffing
Summary
The committee advanced a $2.9 million supplemental appropriation and related staffing changes to implement the Buffen stipulated judgment eliminating reliance on pre‑arraignment cash bail, after debate over police overtime, DA staffing and data/reporting requirements; BLA recommended reductions and limited‑term positions.
The Budget & Finance Committee on Nov. 6 forwarded a package of ordinances and amendments to implement the stipulated judgment in Buffen and Patterson v. Hennessy, a court case that challenged the constitutionality of pre‑arraignment cash bail. The settlement requires the city to produce own‑recognizance (OR) workups within 8 hours of booking and to make OR support available 24/7; it is conditioned on the city approving supporting funding and amendments by early December to meet a court deadline unless the parties agree to extend it.
Kelly Kirkpatrick of the Mayor’s Budget Office described a supplemental appropriation that originally sought $3.4 million but was reduced to $2.9 million after identifying an alternative IT approach that cut police IT costs by roughly $498,000. The supplemental covers near‑term (6‑month) costs in fiscal year 2019‑20, including overtime, short‑term staffing and modest IT work to expedite incident reports and OR packets.
Deputy City Attorney John Givner and other city representatives summarized the legal background: the district court found the pre‑arraignment bail schedule unconstitutional, and the stipulated judgment requires process and funding changes to comply. The city must submit approvals by Dec. 4 to meet the settlement schedule; plaintiffs may seek attorneys’ fees and the sheriff said she will oppose a fee motion if filed.
Key budget components discussed included roughly $1.2 million in police overtime to expedite incident report submission at the busiest stations, more than $800,000 requested for San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project to expand OR workups to 24/7, $324,000 for partial‑year DA staffing (4 positions for six months, budgeted as 2 FTE in the ASO amendment), and about $450,000 in 6‑month overtime for the Sheriff to operationalize the new process and reporting. The Budget Analyst Office recommended reductions to several allocations (reducing the supplemental from $2.9M to ~$2.2M in their evaluation) and recommended some positions be limited‑term so the city can assess ongoing needs.
Supervisors pressed departments on operational impacts, particularly police concerns that shortening timelines for report completion would require removing officers and supervisors from patrol; the Police Department described operational tradeoffs and ongoing overtime controls. Departments said they would work with the Mayor’s Budget Office and Controller over the next six months to refine hiring, IT, training and reporting. The committee moved the package forward with a positive recommendation to the board.
