California's Department of Justice announced a settlement with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department addressing unlawful citations issued to minors under Operation CleanSWEEP, a student enforcement program that operated from 1997 to 2022.
Affected individuals, cited when under age 18 for certain offenses, may seek reimbursement of any fines and fees and dismissal of their citations, the department said. The deadline to submit claims is April 18, 2027. Eligible offenses include daytime loitering on school grounds, tobacco possession, fighting or disturbing the peace on school grounds, and any offense for those under age 12.
An investigation found that the Sheriff's Department and Chaffey Joint Union High School District violated the law by issuing citations to students for offenses not authorized by law. From 2016 to 2022, the two most common violations countywide were possession of under an ounce of marijuana (35 percent) and daytime loitering (34 percent).
The Sheriff's Department suspended the program in 2022 and terminated it countywide in January 2024. Under the settlement, both the department and school district agreed to revise training and policies and submit to monitoring to ensure compliance with the settlement terms.