Lurie’s Approach to Crime vs. DA Brooke Jenkins

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins are locked in a budget dispute that Jenkins warns will have a crippling effect on public safety. The conflict centers on a mandated 15 percent budget cut across all city departments, intended to address a budget deficit reported as $818 million or $820 million driven by a decline in the downtown economy.

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has pushed back against the proposed cuts, which would reduce her department’s budget by $5.4 million. In a hearing before the Board of Supervisors Budget Committee on May 7, 2025, Jenkins instead requested a $2.9 million increase for the 2025-2026 fiscal year to cover negotiated salaries and benefits, which constitute 77 percent of her budget.

Impact on Prosecutions and Staffing

Jenkins stated that implementing the mayor’s budget cuts would necessitate the layoff of at least 25 junior prosecutors. According to the District Attorney, such a move would essentially gut the preliminary hearing unit, the misdemeanor unit and three narcotics lawyers.

The District Attorney’s office has seen a significant increase in caseloads. Jenkins reported that prosecutors handling misdemeanors currently manage an average of 186 open cases, while those handling general felonies average 69 cases. Jenkins has previously criticized judges who divert offenders into mental health programs and has charged more misdemeanor cases in the last year than in any year in over a decade.

If implemented, the [district attorney’s office] would effectively have to suspend prosecuting entire categories of crimes due to lack of resources [and] reassign and redistribute thousands of cases or risk mass dismissals.

Brooke Jenkins, in a letter to budget director Sophia Kittler

The potential for mass dismissals comes at a time of increased police activity. Officers have been deploying to the Mission, Mid-Market, South of Market, and the Tenderloin to arrest drug dealers and users, leading to the most crowded jails San Francisco has seen in decades.

Legal Defense and Public Defender Challenges

While the District Attorney’s office faces funding cuts, the Public Defender’s Office is struggling with staffing shortages caused by the increase in prosecutions. Public Defender Mano Raju has reported that the office is so understaffed that he has occasionally refused to take on new felony cases.

Raju argues that taking on more cases than staff can reasonably handle is a violation of legal ethics and detrimental to clients. This situation has led to legal complications for Raju, who is facing contempt of court charges. Judge Harry Dorfman is expected to make a final ruling on the contempt charge, which could result in a fine that would further burden the Public Defender’s Office.

The broader strategy under Mayor Lurie and District Attorney Jenkins has focused on a tough-on-crime approach. This includes hiring more police officers and increasing the number of charges filed and cases taken to trial, as the DA’s office has become less willing to accept diversion or plea deals.