Yolo County Crime & Justice Overview

On Dec. 20, Jassen Colianni, a Yolo County transient, was charged with Yolo County’s first Proposition 36 felony possession of drugs under the newly enacted Proposition 36. Original article published at West Sacramento News-Ledger

Dec. 18, 2024, California Proposition 36 went into effect. Prop. 36, which was resoundingly passed by the voters of the State of California on Nov. 5, restores public safety tools that were removed when California Prop. 47 passed in 2014.

The Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act is a new civil court process that is available as of Dec. 1.

The Judges of Yolo Superior Court elected Judge Tom M. Dyer and Judge Sonia Cortés to serve as Presiding Judge and Assistant Presiding Judge for 2025-2026. Their terms will begin Jan. 1, 2025.

In more than 30 states, it’s harder than ever to vote this year. But in California, it’s never been easier.

A nearly half-million-dollar state grant will help keep guns off the streets in West Sacramento. Original article published at West Sacramento News-Ledger

How the California mental health crisis emerged out of the state’s history of deinstitutionalization and laws designed to protect the mentally ill, as well as the communities around them.

“Intelligent” speed-limiting technology will be required in all new California cars starting in 2027, if a new law authored by San Francisco Senator Scott Wiener passes.

In San Mateo County, a new law allows police to charge homeless people with criminal offenses if they don’t accept shelter. SCOTUS will soon weigh in with a potential landmark decision in an Oregon case.

As the COVID pandemic eased, so did the epidemic of death on the road. Somewhat. But the ongoing crisis of traffic fatalities remains at high levels with early numbers form 2023 appearing to top 4,000 in California.