REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
August 4, 2026
FROM
JASON ANDERSON, District Attorney
SUBJECT
Title
Grant Application for the 2026-27 San Bernardino County Automobile Insurance Fraud Program
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Ratify the submission of the grant application by the Chief Deputy District Attorney to the California Insurance Commissioner, including the Joint Investigative Plan between the Inland Empire Fraud Division Regional Office and the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office, for the San Bernardino County Automobile Insurance Fraud Program, in the amount of $1,092,708, for the period of July 1,2026 through June 30, 2027.
2. Authorize the Chief Deputy District Attorney to execute and electronically submit any subsequent, non-substantive amendments to the grant application and all related documents, subject to review by County Counsel.
3. Adopt Resolution, as required by the California Insurance Commissioner, authorizing the Chief Deputy District Attorney to execute and electronically submit the grant application referenced in Recommendation No. 1 and all related documents, including any subsequent non-substantive amendments, subject to review by County Counsel.
4. Direct the Chief Deputy District Attorney to transmit any non-substantive amendments to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors within 30 days of execution.
(Presenter: Michael Fermin, Chief Assistant District Attorney, 382-3662)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of additional Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The District Attorney (Department) requested a grant budget of $1,092,708 to fully fund the County’s Automobile Insurance Fraud Program (Program). The grant does not require matching funds. Proposed staffing includes one Full-Time Employee (FTE) Deputy District Attorney, two FTE District Attorney Senior Investigators, .06 FTE overtime for District Attorney Senior Investigators, .50 FTE Administrative Assistant, 0.25 FTE Paralegal, and operating costs necessary for the Program. The Department’s 2026-27 budget includes an estimated $1,167,829 for this grant, based on the actual award that the Department received in 2025-26. When the Department is awarded the grant, the Department will return to the Board of Supervisors (Board) to accept the award and request any necessary budget adjustments.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Section 1872.8 of the California Insurance Code and California Code of Regulations, Title 10, Chapter 5, Subchapter 9, Article 4, Section 2698.65, authorize the California Insurance Commissioner to collect assessments paid by insurers and distribute those funds to agencies across the State for the investigation and prosecution of automobile insurance fraud cases. Since 1991, San Bernardino County has received grant funding from the State of California Department of Insurance (DOI) for this purpose. The prosecution of automobile insurance fraud often results in reduced insurance claim payments and a commensurate decrease in automobile insurance premiums for County residents.
The California Insurance Commissioner notified all participating agencies statewide that the due date to submit a grant application for the Program would be June 26, 2026. However, it is a requirement that the grant application includes statistical case information through mid-June. The last Board meeting in June was scheduled for June 23, 2026, which did not allow sufficient time for obtaining approvals after the statistical case information was finalized. As no Board meetings were scheduled for July, this meeting is the first opportunity to present the item following submittal of the grant application. The DOI does not allow extensions to submit grant applications. Therefore, the Department seeks retroactive approval of the submitted grant application.
As required by DOI, the Department’s grant application includes the Joint Investigative Plan between DOI’s Inland Empire Fraud Division Regional Office (Regional Office) and the Department. The Joint Investigative Plan ensures close coordination with DOI investigators on fraud investigations and provides guidance for thorough and timely investigations for successful prosecution.
Since 2012, the Department has essentially maintained the same Program staffing with the exception of adding .25 FTE for a Paralegal position and .06 FTE overtime for the District Attorney Senior Investigators in the FY25-26 award. The Department included the .25 FTE Paralegal position in its FY26-27 grant application. The remaining .75 FTE of this position is assigned to another DOI grant that the Department receives, the Worker’s Compensation Fraud Program.
The Department reduced its funding request in the FY26-27 grant application for an Administrative Assistant from 1.0 FTE to .5 FTE. The reason the Department made this change was a result of clarification provided by DOI to ensure consistency between eligible cases and the time spent on job duties for those cases. The remaining .5 FTE of the Administrative Assistant is funded by the Department’s Discretionary General Funding for duties outside of the grant. Aside from staffing, the FY26-27 grant requirements do not contain any significant operational changes from prior years.
The State of California, DOI requires a Resolution from the Board authorizing the Chief Deputy District Attorney to electronically submit the application. Approval of the recommended actions will allow the Department to seek continued Program funding for FY2026-27.
PROCUREMENT
N/A
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Daniella Hernandez, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on July 14, 2026 and County Finance and Administration (Elias Duenas, Administrative Analyst, 387-4052) on July 15, 2026.