(a) Establishment. There shall be a Mayor’s Office of Victim and Witness Rights (the “Office”) to coordinate services provided by the City to victims and witnesses of all types of crime. The Office shall be a department of the City, and shall include such officers and employees as are authorized pursuant to the budgetary and fiscal provisions of the Charter. The Mayor shall appoint a Director of the Office (the “Director”). The Director shall be a department head, and shall have the powers and duties given to a department head under the Charter and Municipal Code.
(b) Duties and functions. Except as otherwise provided in the Charter, and in addition to any other duties assigned by ordinance or pursuant to Charter Section 4.132, the Office shall have the following duties:
(1) Services to Victims and Witnesses.
(A) The Office shall itself provide, or shall monitor and coordinate the provision of, comprehensive services to victims and witnesses (referred to, collectively, as “clients”) of all types of crimes. Such comprehensive services shall include but not be limited to assisting to ensure compliance with Article I, § 28, section (b) of the California Constitution; translation services for non-English-speaking victims and witnesses and interpretation services for the deaf or hard of hearing; follow-up contact to determine whether a client received necessary assistance; field visits to a client’s home, place of business, or other location, whenever necessary to provide services; facilitation of volunteer participation in the provision of client services to encourage community involvement; and services to clients for their particular needs.
(B) The Office shall also oversee, or itself perform, the functions of, the Office of Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Prevention (“SHARP”) as set forth in Section 2A.431.
(C) The Office is required to maintain the confidentiality of any information that is legally mandated to be kept confidential, and shall honor and protect the confidentiality of client information to the fullest extent that the law allows. The Office may notify clients orally and in writing that client information will be treated as confidential to the fullest extent permitted by law, but in no event shall the Office’s failure to provide such notice be deemed to waive a client’s right to confidentiality. Nothing in this subsection (b)(1) shall otherwise restrict the City’s ability to maintain the confidentiality of information where such confidentiality is permitted (but not required) by law.
(2) Consultation and coordination with public safety agencies; cooperation with other City departments; power to issue subpoenas. The Office shall consult and coordinate with all relevant City agencies, including but not limited to the Police Department, District Attorney’s Office, Sheriff’s Office, Adult Probation Department, Department of Public Health, Human Rights Commission, and Department on the Status of Women, as needed to provide effective services in the areas listed in Section 2A.430(b)(1) above. City departments shall cooperate with the Office in its performance of these duties. The Office shall also have the power and authority to subpoena witnesses, compel their attendance and testimony, administer oaths and affirmations, take evidence, and require by subpoena the production of books, papers, records or other items in furtherance of its duties. The Office shall have no authority to subpoena a crime victim for information regarding a crime of which the person is a victim.
(3) Survey. On at least an annual basis, the Office shall survey clients served by the Office for feedback regarding the quality, adequacy, and scope of services to clients provided, monitored, or coordinated by the Office. In conducting this survey, the Office shall seek input from community groups in evaluating whether the services to clients have been culturally competent and tailored to meet the priorities of historically underserved communities. No later than March 1 of each year, starting in 2025, the Office shall present to the Board of Supervisors a report summarizing the results of the survey covering the prior calendar year and the Office’s plan for adapting its operations to meet the needs identified in the survey, including the priorities expressed by members of historically underserved communities. At the time it submits the report, the Office shall make available to the Board of Supervisors the raw survey results used to compile the report. Such data shall be presented in deidentified form and may, at the discretion of the Office, be presented in aggregate form.
(4) City service evaluation. The Office shall, in coordination with other City departments, analyze survey results and other data reflecting the needs of clients and the degree to which specific categories of needs are being met by current City services, and shall recommend to the Board of Supervisors policies for addressing identified unmet needs. The Office’s evaluation and reporting procedures shall comply with the standards set forth in Part 4, Title 6, Chapter 4, Article 2 of the California Penal Code, as may be amended from time to time.
(5) Consolidation plan. No later than one year after appointment of a Director of the Office, the Office shall introduce at the Board of Supervisors an ordinance that describes a proposed plan for consolidating all City services for victims and witnesses under the Office, except those services provided by the Victim Services Division of the District Attorney’s Office.
(6) Other duties. The Board of Supervisors may modify the duties of the Office set forth in subsections (b)(1) through (b)(5), and may add to those duties or transfer any of those duties to other City departments, by ordinance approved by a majority of the Board.
(Added by Proposition D, 6/7/2022, Eff. 7/10/2022; amended by Ord. 249-24, File No. 240700, App. 10/24/2024, Eff. 11/24/2024)