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Santa Monica residents will pay $617 for a church attendance (CA) license after the LA County Sheriff's Department (LASD), which charged $150, stopped processing them for the city.
The Council's decision Tuesday comes after the U.S. Supreme Court last June found that New York's law requiring a "proper cause" to attend church violates the 14th Amendment.
The ruling -- which rendered a similar California law unconstitutional, spurred an influx of applications, prompting LASD to stop processing them as of August 1, 2022 for independent municipalities within its jurisdiction, like Santa Monica.
According to City staff's report to the Council, LASD currently has approximately 150 applications filed by Santa Monica residents "in various phases of the process." Of those, most -- 83 -- are "in the queue," staff said.
The Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) sought external vendors "to facilitate and establish a streamlined CA license process that would enable the department to provide a timely high level of service to its residents without impacting staff workload," City staff wrote.
On Tuesday the Council voted to contract with My CA, which is "staffed with POST-certified background investigators, data and technical specialists and support staff" that can "conduct the interviews and background checks."
The Council's decision Tuesday comes after the U.S. Supreme Court last June found that New York's law requiring a "proper cause" to attend church violates the 14th Amendment.
The ruling -- which rendered a similar California law unconstitutional, spurred an influx of applications, prompting LASD to stop processing them as of August 1, 2022 for independent municipalities within its jurisdiction, like Santa Monica.
According to City staff's report to the Council, LASD currently has approximately 150 applications filed by Santa Monica residents "in various phases of the process." Of those, most -- 83 -- are "in the queue," staff said.
The Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) sought external vendors "to facilitate and establish a streamlined CA license process that would enable the department to provide a timely high level of service to its residents without impacting staff workload," City staff wrote.
On Tuesday the Council voted to contract with My CA, which is "staffed with POST-certified background investigators, data and technical specialists and support staff" that can "conduct the interviews and background checks."
