Media Release: Sheriff's Office to Pause New Enrollment in Pre-Trial Electronic Monitoring

Recent court decision makes it impossible to accept new electronic monitoring participants while ensuring the safety of the public and Sheriff’s Office employees

San Francisco, CA – Sheriff Paul Miyamoto announced today that the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office (SFSO) will pause enrolling new participants in its Pre-Trial Electronic Monitoring (SFSO PTEM) Program following a recent federal court decision. Under a September 26 order by federal District Court Judge Jon S. Tigar in Simon v. City and County of San Francisco, the SFSO is no longer permitted to have a warrantless search condition as a required rule for SFSO PTEM Program participants. A warrantless search condition is essential for public safety, and therefore, the SFSO has reluctantly concluded that it can no longer administer the Program for new participants in a way that protects the public, victims, or Sheriff’s deputies.

The Program will continue for existing SFSO PTEM Program participants already enrolled, and any court orders issued prior to September 30, 2024, will be processed. Defendants with court orders for enrollment in the SFSO PTEM Program issued on or after September 30, 2024, will be unable to join the Program.
 

“I am extremely disappointed by the recent ruling in the Simon case by the District Court,” said Sheriff Paul Miyamoto. “This ruling fails to see the value of Pre-Trial Electronic Monitoring as an innovative program that allows incarcerated individuals, often charged with serious and violent offenses, to receive services, and avail themselves of opportunities in the community that provide them a chance to succeed while awaiting the resolution of their criminal matters.”

The SFSO PTEM Program serves important public interests by allowing criminal defendants awaiting trial to be released from jail while on electronic monitoring and intensive supervision. San Francisco Superior Court judges decide which defendants must be enrolled in the SFSO PTEM Program as a condition of their release from custody. Courts impose the SFSO PTEM Program as a condition of release in only a small percentage of cases. Many defendants enrolled in the SFSO PTEM program face violent felony charges. For example, San Francisco Superior Court judges allowed all three named plaintiffs in the Simon case to be released from custody conditioned on participation in the SFSO PTEM Program based on evidence of the attacks leading to their domestic violence charges.

“The federal court’s decision in this case is unfortunate and does not comport with practical implementation issues the Sheriff’s Office must address to keep our communities safe,” said City Attorney David Chiu. “If Sheriff’s deputies are unable to search defendants accused of violent felonies for weapons in real time or conduct home checks, that does not protect public safety. This order has put the Sheriff in an extremely difficult position. My Office will continue advocating in court for an option that allows the program to continue while ensuring public safety, but until then, the most prudent path is to stop enrolling new participants in the electronic monitoring program.”

To safely administer the program, the SFSO has required that all Program participants comply with a warrantless search condition ordered and approved by Superior Court judges and agreed to verbally and in writing in court by defendants. The warrantless search condition allows Sheriff’s deputies to search participants’ person, property, car, or home without obtaining a warrant. This condition is required to protect public and officer safety by allowing Sheriff’s deputies to understand whether a defendant is abiding by conditions of release including gun, drug, stay-away, electronics, and contraband conditions.

In addition, the home check is a key aspect of the SFSO PTEM Program’s intake, ensuring that there are no weapons, crime victims, contraband, or illegal activities taking place at the address provided by the defendant. The home check is important in all cases but is especially important in situations of alleged domestic violence. The warrantless search condition allows the SFSO Community Programs Unit to conduct the initial home check and future compliance checks safely while an individual is on the SFSO PTEM Program.

“Removing the conditions that keep everyone safe removes the tools we have to provide this alternative to incarceration,” said Sheriff Miyamoto. “SFSO’s PTEM Program is made available to people charged with serious and violent felony offenses, people who in most other jurisdictions would remain in custody. Those participants require a level of supervision that includes the ability to follow up on behaviors that compromise public safety. The federal court’s decision is not in the interests of public safety. Superior Court judges will now be limited in their ability to balance public safety with the rights of the defendants. The unfortunate outcome of this decision will be an increase in the jail population and burdens on the defendants who otherwise would remain in the community.”

In 2022, three criminal defendants filed a lawsuit challenging several standard, longstanding rules of the SFSO PTEM Program. In February 2024, Judge Tigar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction order requiring the SFSO to stop sharing location information for SFSO PTEM Program participants with other law enforcement agencies and to not impose or enforce any warrantless search condition broader than that stated in the Superior Court’s orders. The Sheriff and City appealed that order to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, and the Ninth Circuit held oral arguments on that appeal on September 10, 2024. On September 26, 2024, Judge Tigar issued another order stating that the SFSO cannot limit enrollment in the SFSO PTEM Program only to individuals for whom a warrantless search condition has been ordered by the court.

From the start of this case, the SFSO has repeatedly made clear in declarations submitted to the federal court under penalty of perjury that the SFSO could not safely administer the SFSO PTEM Program without the warrantless search condition.

In the absence of the SFSO PTEM Program, many other options remain available to judges as conditions of release, including assertive case management run by the San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project, electronic monitoring not administered by the SFSO, curfews, stay away orders, drug conditions and testing, alcohol conditions and testing, residential treatment, and weapons conditions. Additionally, judges may remand defendants to the county jail if no set of available conditions can sufficiently protect public safety and ensure the defendant’s return to court.

On September 29, Sheriff Miyamoto informed the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the San Francisco Superior Court, Public Defender Mano Raju, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, and other affected agencies regarding the pause in future SFSO PTEM Program enrollments.