By Vanguard Staff
SACRAMENTO, CA – The California State Assembly on Tuesday passed Assembly Bill 1231, the Safer Communities Through Opportunity Act, moving the landmark legislation to the State Senate for consideration.
Sponsored by the Vera Institute of Justice and authored by Assemblymembers Sade Elhawary (D-Los Angeles) and Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), with co-authorship from Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood), the bill aims to significantly expand pretrial diversion opportunities for people charged with certain nonviolent, non-serious felonies.
Supporters say the legislation offers judges new tools to steer people away from incarceration and into programs that provide workforce development, behavioral health treatment, and other rehabilitative services—programs shown to reduce recidivism and improve public safety outcomes.
“We know Californians are feeling the crunch of the high cost of living and want solutions that promote safety and stability for all of us,” said Claire Simonich, Associate Director of Vera California. “AB 1231 lets judges offer those solutions, giving people charged with low-level offenses the chance to support themselves and their families and stay out of trouble.”
The bill authorizes courts to grant pretrial diversion for up to 24 months for individuals charged with eligible felony offenses, excluding those involving serious bodily harm, firearms, sexual offenses, domestic violence, stalking, or terrorism-related charges. To qualify, the court must find that the person poses no unreasonable risk to public safety and would likely benefit from diversion programming.
Advocates emphasize that the bill also includes strong protections for survivors of violence. Individuals with histories of surviving domestic violence, sexual assault, or human trafficking would receive special consideration under the law, with such experiences weighed as mitigating factors supporting diversion eligibility.
Simonich added that “this bill reduces harm to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, or trafficking, who make up an all-too-high proportion of our jail populations,” and called AB 1231 “a chance to ensure that the most vulnerable Californians get help, not handcuffs.”
The bill requires participants to submit individualized diversion plans and allows for either “single agency” or “dual agency” supervision, depending on the complexity of the case and the level of public safety risk. Treatment agencies—including workforce centers, behavioral health providers, or reentry organizations—would be tasked with monitoring progress and reporting regularly to the court.
Participants must still pay restitution, but indigency alone cannot disqualify someone from diversion. If a person completes their program successfully, the criminal charges are dismissed and the arrest is sealed, although criminal justice agencies would retain limited access to sealed records.
Proponents argue that the bill represents a fiscally responsible and humane shift toward rehabilitation. Diversion programs, they note, cost far less than incarceration. Studies cited by the Vera Institute show that participants in California diversion programs have a 15.3% re-arrest rate, compared to 41.9% for people released from state prison.
One advocate who received diversion described it as life-changing: “As a youth survivor of sexual assault… I developed a substance use disorder as an unhealthy coping mechanism. I soon found myself in jail,” the advocate shared. “But after speaking with my public defender and the judge overseeing my case, I was able to enroll in diversion… That became my foundation for higher education, meaningful employment, and deeper engagement in my community.”
Supporters also point to the bill’s potential to reduce racial disparities in the criminal legal system. Data show that Black and brown Californians are arrested at disproportionate rates in nearly every county. Expanding diversion, they argue, offers a meaningful path to disrupt the cycle of incarceration and its long-term harms, including barriers to housing, employment, and education.
However, the legislation has faced pushback from the Chief Probation Officers of California, who argue that it introduces unnecessary complexity and may undermine public safety. The group cited concerns about defendants drafting their own diversion plans, the role of outside agencies in supervising felonies, and potential confusion stemming from the bill’s dual-agency supervision model.
“We are concerned that the expansion of felony diversion… is not in the best interest of public safety,” the group wrote in opposition, warning that treatment agencies could end up overseeing court-ordered services without sufficient oversight or accountability.
Despite that opposition, AB 1231 passed the Assembly with a majority vote and now advances to the Senate, where supporters hope its blend of fiscal prudence, rehabilitative focus, and public safety appeal will carry it through.
“We look forward to working with survivors, workers, service providers, and faith leaders to pass this bill through the Senate and get it to the governor’s desk,” Simonich said. “Our communities want services that prevent crime, that get people housed, and that give people a chance to support themselves—and the momentum is growing.”
