California Attorney General Announces Reimbursement for Youth Cited Under San Bernardino County CleanSWEEP Program: Claims Due by April 18, 2027
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced in San Bernardino County, California, on October 27 that, under the California Department of Justice's recent settlement with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, individuals who were cited by the Sheriff's Department when they were under the age of 18 for certain offenses under the student citation program CleanSWEEP may be eligible for reimbursement of any related fines and fees and dismissal of the citation. Claims must be received by April 18, 2027, and can be sent to the Sheriff's Department at 655 East 3rd St., San Bernardino, CA 92415, by phone at 909-387-3406, or by email.
CleanSWEEP, a youth-ticketing program run by the Sheriff's Department with schools and other law enforcement agencies from 1997 until 2022, trained school staff to investigate and cite students ages 10 through 17 for low-level offenses on school campuses; students and parents were then required to appear in adult traffic court, in some cases facing fines in excess of $1,000 for a single violation. The Sheriff's Department suspended the program after the DOJ investigation began in 2022 and terminated it countywide in January 2024. The DOJ found the program had issued citations not authorized by law and harmed protected student groups; from 2016 to 2022, the two most common violations countywide were possession of under an ounce of marijuana (35%) and daytime loitering (34%).
Eligible offenses include daytime loitering on school grounds (citations issued on or after December 20, 2002), tobacco-related offenses (on or after June 9, 2016), fighting or disturbing the peace on school grounds, and any offense committed by a child under 12 (on or after January 1, 2019). Claimants should provide proof of the citation and any fines or fees paid; the Sheriff's Department will work with those who cannot provide proof to verify the information.
"All students deserve school environments centered on their learning, not environments that criminalize youth," Attorney General Bonta said, encouraging eligible people to submit a claim by April 18, 2027. Last month, the DOJ entered into separate settlements with the Sheriff's Department and the Chaffey Joint Union High School District, which include revised training and policy and compliance monitoring; the district has replaced punitive citation practices with trauma-informed strategies, restorative justice training, and mental health support.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Chaffey Joint Union High School District 的校车（资料图，该学区为本案和解一方）。Leon13639摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons / Photo: A Chaffey Joint Union High School District school bus (file photo; the district is a party to the settlement). Photo by Leon13639, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
