County of San Diego v. Com. on State Mandates

INTRODUCTION

Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution generally requires the State to reimburse local governments when the Legislature imposes a mandate on the local governments to carry out new programs or higher levels of service. Relying on this constitutional provision, the County of San Diego filed a test claim with the Commission on State Mandates seeking reimbursement from the State for costs the County incurs to prepare

for, and attend, criminal proceedings known as Franklin proceedings.1 Broadly speaking, Franklin proceedings afford youth offenders serving lengthy prison sentences an opportunity to introduce evidence of youth- related factors that may be relevant when the youth offenders become eligible for parole many years in the future. The Commission denied the County’s test claim. It found the costs at issue were not reimbursable because the laws on which the County based its test claim—Penal Code sections 3041, 3046, 3051, and 4801, as added and amended by Statutes 2013, chapter 312, Statutes 2015, chapter 471, and Statutes 2017, chapter 684 (collectively, the Test Claim Statutes)—do not expressly require counties to participate in Franklin…