California Supreme Court Bail Ruling Cuts Some Jail Headcounts
by Chuck Sharman
The jail system in California’s San Francisco City and County, which held 1,330 detainees as recently as March 9, 2026, hasn’t held more than 1,200 since May 27, and not more than 1,100 since August 24. The total dropped below 1,000 on September 4, a massive 33% decline in under six months. Over the first six months of the year, however, reports of violent crime fell by only 9%, according to data maintained by County Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, and the active felony caseload of District Attorney Brooke Jenkins remained about where it was in November 2025. Moreover, the number of arrests in August, 898, was far higher than in the same month last year, when the total was 712, Mission Local reported.
What’s driving down the headcount in San Francisco jails?
It appears to be a reaction to an historic ruling by the state Supreme Court on April 26, declaring that bail may not be imposed until a trial court “has assessed the defendant’s financial situation and determined by ‘clear and convincing evidence’ that no nonfinancial conditions of release will ‘reasonably vindicate [the state’s] interests’ in ensuring public safety and … the defendant’s appearance.” As PLN reported, that decision came down in a habeas corpus petition filed by Gerald John Kowalczyk, who spent six months jailed in nearby San Mateo County after his arrest for using a stolen credit card to buy a $7 burger from Five Guys. [See: PLN, July 2026, p.18.]
In Los Angeles County, the Office of Sheriff Robert G. Luna said his jail system’s average daily population (ADP) fell from 13,141 in April, the month that the Court ruled, to 12,734 in June, a 5.3% decline. ADP reports for the third quarter of the year will not be available until later in October. Reports for Orange County and Riverside County were unavailable for the second or third quarters of the year, according to the California Board of State and Community Corrections Jail Profile Survey.
In San Diego County, an increase in the jail systems’ population of 150 to 300 detainees was entirely attributed to enforcement of Proposition 36, a 2024 ballot measure that promised to divert those arrested repeatedly for theft or drugs into treatment; according to a report by the nonprofit Center on Juvenile Crime and Justice (CJCC), the new law also reversed provisions of 2014’s Proposition 47 that reclassified such crimes as misdemeanors, meaning that they may now be charged as felonies, and those arrested are subject to bail. See: Prop 36 Promise Treatment. It’s Delivering Incarceration, CJCC (Mar. 2026).
Additional source: Mission Local
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