Title
Recommendation to Authorize the City Attorney to Execute a Three-Year Memorandum of Understanding with Alameda County District Attorney’s Office for Access to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Case Management System, (RD3) Intake and Charging Module For $72,000 a Year and Not-to-Exceed $216,000 for Three Years. (City Attorney 10023043)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Yibin Shen, City Attorney
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City Attorney’s Office currently contracts with the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office (ACDAO) for the use of their case management system (RD3) Intake and Charging Module to electronically file criminal cases with the Alameda County Superior Court (Court). The current contract expires June 30, 2026. Staff negotiated a new three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ACDAO for $72,000 a year, with total compensation not-to-exceed $216,000.
BACKGROUND
In November 2020, the voters of Alameda approved a ballot measure to allow the City Attorney’s Office to prosecute misdemeanor crimes that occur in the City of Alameda (City). The City Attorney requested access to the ACDAO case management system, referred to as RD3, including the Intake and Charging module that would allow City staff to file their criminal complaints electronically. At the time, as now, RD3 was and is the only program that permits electronic filing into the Court’s case management system, Odyssey. The ACDAO agreed to allow the Alameda County Information Technology Department (ACITD), who created the RD3 program, to create a separate section in RD3 for the City Attorney’s cases. The City Attorney’s Office and ACDAO entered a MOU in 2021 for the use of the ACDAO proprietary RD3 software in the amount of $5,000 monthly.
At the request of the City Attorney’s Office, in recognition of the positive partnership between the two Offices, the District Attorney’s Office discontinued this charge towards the end of 2022 and continued to provide the service free to the City until early 2025.
In early 2025, with the change in administration at the District Attorney’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office required the City to resume payments. The City Attorney and the District Attorney signed a new MOU for continued use of RD3 for a one-year term beginning July 1, 2025 and concluding June 30, 2026. More recently, the District Attorney’s Office informed the City Attorney’s Office that the monthly charge will increase by 20% to $6,000 a month.
DISCUSSION
In 2025 the City Attorney’s Office reviewed and processed over 1,200 criminal cases through the RD3 case management system and filed over 700 new cases with the Court via the RD3 Intake and Charging module. All maintenance of RD3 is managed by ACDAO, including payment for maintenance, any upgrades and other costs. With remittance of the monthly fee, the City Attorney’s Office pays for a portion of the maintenance and other costs associated with its use of RD3, including ACDAO staff time, which includes data maintenance, attorney time to create the codes for RD3, administrative support, a licensing fee, and equipment upgrades.
ACDAO informed staff that it would be seeking a twenty percent increase to the monthly fee for use of RD3 following the expiration of the current MOU. Since the inception of the formal agreement between ACDAO and the City Attorney’s Office in 2021, several collective bargaining agreements between Alameda County and the unions that represent various classifications of County and ACDAO employees were formalized, resulting in increased wages and benefits. As a result, the cost per ACDAO employee has increased since 2021. Additionally, ACDAO informs Staff that beginning fiscal year 2026-27, the ACDAO will be investing significant funds to upgrade RD3, called Dalite 4. As a result of these increased costs, ACDAO and City Staff have negotiated a new MOU for a three-year term in the amount of $6,000 monthly for a total of $216,000.
Since its inception, the Prosecution Unit within the City Attorney’s Office has petitioned the Court for direct electronic filing, as yet without success; RD3 remains the only option for electronic filing of criminal cases with the Court. Therefore, bringing the filing function fully within the City Attorney’s Office would require paper filing of all criminal complaints. This would necessitate hiring additional administrative staff to process, prepare, transport, and file all complaints in person at the Wiley W. Manuel courthouse in Oakland. Staff have concluded that using in-house staffing to replace the ACDAO RD3 program with paper filing would not be cost effective. Staff continue to work with Court personnel toward the goal of direct filing via an alternative program to RD3.
ALTERNATIVES
• Approve the MOU.
• Do not approve the MOU with the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. This alternative would result in cessation of all electronic filing as the Courts currently offer no e-filing alternative to the ACDAO RD3 software for charging purposes. The City Attorney’s Office would be required to make paper filings of all criminal complaints and to hire additional staff to prepare and transport these documents daily for filing with the Court. Preliminarily, staff finds that in-house staffing would not be cost effective.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The funds for this MOU are budgeted in the Prosecution budget (Fund 10023043) of the City Attorney’s Office for the current budget cycle in the monthly amount of $5,000, consistent with the current agreement between the City and the County. Future expenditures for the increased contractual agreement of $6,000 monthly are subject to City Council appropriation of funds in future budget cycles. The proposed fixed annual cost is as follows:
|
YEAR |
MONTHLY AMOUNT |
ANNUAL COST |
|
2026-2027 |
$6,000 |
$72,000 |
|
2027-2028 |
$6,000 |
$72,000 |
|
2028-2029 |
$6,000 |
$72,000 |
|
|
TOTAL |
$216,000 |
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action is consistent with the City’s policies and Alameda Municipal Code. This action is subject to the Levine Act.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action does not constitute a “project” as defined in California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378 and therefore no further CEQA analysis is required.
CLIMATE IMPACT
There are no identifiable climate impacts or climate action opportunities associated with the subject of this report.
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the City Attorney to execute a three-year MOU with Alameda County District Attorney’s Office for access to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Case Management System, (RD3) Intake and Charging Module in an amount not-to-exceed $216,000 for three years.
Respectfully submitted,
Julia Gonzales, Assistant City Attorney
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Ross McCarthy, Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Interagency Memorandum of Understanding