San Francisco ballot initiative establishes DV right to counsel pilot
In June 2022, San Francisco voters enacted Proposition D with 60% of the vote. The measure creates the Office of Victim and Witness Rights and requires the Director of the Office to introduce an ordinance proposing a one-year domestic violence right to counsel counsel pilot program that will provide legal services to any DV victim. The City’s fiscal investment in the pilot is limited to “the cost of staff support for program coordination among the City, the Superior Court, non-profit organizations, and others involved in the Pilot Program”, so it appears the legal services will not initially be funded, but the pilot has an evaluation component. According to the ordinance statement, there are over 7,000 DV complaints every year in San Francisco.
Previously, a DV survivor penned a piece to SFGate explaining why the City needed to pass Prop D.
