Jones sexually violent predator housing law heads to Governor for approval

East County News Service

Photo:  sign posted by East County residents when two sexually violent predators were proposed for release in their neighborhood

September 27, 2025 (Washington, D.C.) - Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego) announced the passage of his Senate Bill 380, which directs the Department of State Hospitals to examine placing sexually violent predators in state-run transitional housing facilities upon release. Current law allows for their conditional release into the community where they pose a significant risk to the public safety.

“This is a victory for public safety statewide. Community release is a dangerous proposition, period,” said Jones. “The department needs to step up and take responsibility to fix this broken system, not continue to dump sexually violent predators into our neighborhoods.”

Supported by a coalition of local government, law enforcement and victims’ advocacy groups, SB 380 implements a recommendation from the California State Auditor to study the feasibility of transitional housing for sexually violent predators. The auditor’s recommendation came after Jones secured an audit of the state’s handling of the conditional release program. The department refused to implement the recommendation on its own, requiring legislative action.

“State hospital officials have repeatedly shirked their responsibility to the public by digging in and resisting recommendations from the auditor,” said Jones. “The passage of SB 380 will ensure we explore every possible alternative to a status quo that puts children and families at risk.”

Senate Bill 380 now heads to the governor’s desk where it will await his signature.

“The governor and I don’t always see eye-to-eye, but I don’t see how any parent could not support this bill to keep California children safe in their communities,” said Jones. “I’m confident it will earn his signature.”

Placement of sexually violent predators in neighborhoods has been a key issue in several East County communities including Borrego Springs, Campo, Boulevard, Jacumba, Julian and other areas, where residents strongly opposed placement.

Jake Donahue, Capitol Director for Senator Jones, told ECM that transitional housing could “look a number of ways and the possibilities are near endless. In Washington, for example, they’ve placed them in state-run housing on an island in the Puget Sound. In Texas, they have housing that looks closer to a halfway house that’s situated in an isolated area. There are variations in several other states that take their own unique form. That is a big part of why this study is needed. TO take a close look at the unique characteristics of our state, our SVP population, our available funding, available land and many, many other considerations to determine if transitional housing would work here (we would argue it definitely would) and, if so, what the best model for California might be.”

For more information on the SVP issue, please click here.