Santa Barbara District Attorney John Savrnoch has joined district attorneys throughout the state to support Assembly Bill 46, a proposed state bill giving state judges and prosecuting attorneys more say about which criminal defendants are to be diverted into mental-health programs. Existing state law, they say, does not allow adequate consideration of the threat of physical violence some mentally ill criminal defendants might pose.
At the same time, the state Department of Health Care Services announced it intended to award Santa Barbara County $20 million to build two new 16-bed community residential treatment centers for people with serious mental health challenges in Santa Maria. These facilities, according to County Behavioral Wellness spokesperson Suzanne Grimmesey, will focus on “supporting criminal justice involved individuals” to help get them through diversion and recovery treatment. Construction for these could be complete by the end of 2029.
In the meantime, Savrnoch and the statewide district attorneys are making a concerted pitch for AB 46, the subject of a State Senate hearing this week. In a detailed press release, Savrnoch recounted two specific Santa Maria cases in which defendants diverted into mental-health programs rather than incarceration committed acts of violence upon their release.
One involved a 43-year-old defendant who was placed in a diversion program rather than jail after bludgeoning a 65-year-old developmentally disabled man in his walker. Upon his release from the program, Savrnoch noted, the defendant encountered his victim, smashed him in the face with a rock, and stabbed him in the neck. The victim survived…