San Mateo County inmates get a jail break under Proposition 47

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco and every county in the state is trying to figure out just how Prop 47 will affect their communities, and they have to do it soon not that it passed at the polls. Prop 47 lowers certain felonies to misdemeanors.

New laws usually go into effect January first, or even July first, but this one took effect Wednesday, the day after voters passed it. Under Prop 47, you had some people at 11:59 p.m. charged with a felony and by 12:01 am they were only charged with only a misdemeanor.

Public defender Jeff Adachi says San Francisco probably had the first felony case in the state that was reduced to a misdemeanor under Prop 47. That was at 9 a.m. Wednesday when the court doors opened here at the Hall of Justice.

"An individual was charged with a felony crime. The judge found it was a Prop 47 crime which is possession of drugs and immediately reduced it," said Jeff Adachi, San Francisco Public Defender.

And then another case on Thursday, a juvenile caught with methamphetamines.

"He was charged with possession of drugs as a felony and the case was on calendar today and became a misdemeanor," said Adachi.

Adachi figures there could be hundreds of San Francisco cases that will be affected by Prop 47. The ballot measure reduces penalties for drug possession and other non-violent crimes.

The jail in San Mateo County on the other hand, will be letting out far more prisoners. Authorities there are grappling with a more dramatic number under the new law.

"We file about 3,000 felony cases a year in San Mateo County,and we're estimating that approximately one third, about a thousand of these under the Prop 47 will no longer be felonies. They can only prosecuted as misdemeanors," said Steve Wagstaffe, San Mateo County District Attorney.

Why so much higher than San Francisco or for that matter other bigger urban communities? Those cities have more violent and serious felonies. Those type of cases that can't be downgraded by Prop 47.

Suburban counties like San Mateo have more minor felonies, which do qualify.

"We have a lot of drugs, we have a lot of thefts, we have a lot of forgeries, credit card violations and things of that nature," said Wagstaffe.

The Legislative Analyst's Office predicts that from now on some 40,000 offender will now be convicted of misdemeanors instead of felonies each year.

For full election coverage visit our Bay Area Election Results and Voting Guide.