Prop 36

Allows Felony Charges and Increases Sentences for Certain Drug and Theft Crimes

initiative statute

Official Summary

Allows felony charges for possessing certain drugs and for thefts under $950, if defendant has two prior drug or theft convictions.

Fiscal Impact: State criminal justice costs likely ranging from several tens of millions of dollars to the low hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Local criminal justice costs likely in the tens of millions of dollars annually.

• Official CA Voter Guide Summary ; text of proposed law

• Legislative Analyst Office Analysis

• Show Me The Money

  • support: $17,575,355 - Crime Victims United of CA; California District Attorneys Association; Family Business Association of CA

  • oppose: $7,436,047 - Diana Becton, District Attorney Contra Costa County; Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice

• Ballotpedia Summary

• Vote 411

Notes

In 2014, Proposition 47 changed some theft and drug crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. For example, shoplifting (stealing items worth $950 or less from a store) and drug possession generally became misdemeanors.

This proposition:

• increases punishment for some theft and drug crimes

  • theft of items worth $950 or less is a felony if the person has two or more past convictions for certain theft crimes (such as shoplifting, burglary, or carjacking). The sentence would be up to three years in county jail or state prison.

  • allows felony sentences for theft or damage of property to be lengthened by up to three years if three or more people committed the crime together

  • requires sentences for selling certain drugs (such as fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine) be served in prison instead of county jail

• allows people who possess illegal drugs to be charged with a “treatment-mandated felony,” instead of a misdemeanor for those that possess certain drugs (such as fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine) and have two or more past convictions for some drug crimes. Those who finish treatment would have their charges dismissed. Those who do not finish treatment could serve up to three years in state prison.

• requires courts to warn people that they could be charged with murder if they sell or provide illegal drugs that kill someone.