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financial judgment is sent to a collections agency. A staff team from the City Prosecutor's Office, Eugene Police and Municipal Court met for several weeks to analyze the potential outcomes of the DA's "No File" List (Attachment A). The options described below illustrate the range of actions the council could take to address the reduction in criminal prosecution that will result from the DA's policy change. Other changes in the proposed ordinance provide clarification in the definitions of the offenses of Open Alcoholic Beverage Container and Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree. These changes are for housekeeping purposes to align Eugene City Code with the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS). The joint staff team developed two options for City Council review that can improve the sense of security and the quality of life for the Eugene community. The preferred option, which adds some but not all of the offenses from the DA's "No File" List to the Eugene Code, will not satisfy all of the community' s concerns, but is a reasonable level of service that ensures many serious offenses will continue to be prosecuted while being mindful of the City's budgetary constraints. RELATED CITY POLICIES The proposed changes to the Eugene Code support the Council Goals of Safe Community, and Effective, Accountable Municipal Government. COUNCIL OPTIONS The council may choose any of the three options described below or request that staff modify or combine one or more of the options. Three options have been presented which range from taking no action to adopt offenses into the Eugene Code, leaving 700 to 850 crimes per year with no sanctions, to adopting all of the offenses on the DA's "No File" List which would increase the City's misdemeanor case load by more than 10% and cost approximately $210,000 per year. Option 1 - Do Nothing in Response to DA Reduction (No Financial Impact) This option represents an acceptance of a lower level of service in criminal prosecution for the offenses the District Attorney' s Office will no longer file (Attachment A). Prior to the DA reducing service in 2004, the DA's office handled an average of 850 misdemeanor cases per year of the types on the "No File" List that were brought to it by the Eugene Police. These cases were misdemeanors not filed in conjunction with a felony charge; they do not meet the eligibility criteria established in May 2005 by the DA's office for filing. In 2004, some reductions were made by the DA in cases accepted for filing. Eugene Police still charged 764 of these misdemeanor offenses in 2004, even though the DA did not file the charges and returned the cases to Police. With this option, the City would not pursue adoption of new offenses into the Eugene Code, and would not take on additional case load for prosecution, resulting in 700 to 850 criminal offenses annually with no sanctions. Option 2 - Adoption of All Charges on DA's No File List (Highest Financial Impact) With this option, the City would increase its misdemeanor case load by over 10 percent. This would be a very costly option. In addition to the need for more prosecution, judicial and court staff to accommodate processing these additional cases, the City would take on new costs for public defense and additional jail space by taking these cases through Municipal Court. When cases are handled through L:\CMO\2005 Council Agendas\M050725\S0507253.doc