Mayor Lurie signed a new drug-focused sobering center into law Wednesday, despite City Attorney pushback that the center has a “failure to comply with State law” and “non-compliance with standards for detention facilities.”
The SF Board of Supervisors took a very normal and seemingly unexciting vote last week to approve Mayor Daniel Lurie’s proposed $14.5 million RESET Center, which would basically be 25 so-called "sobering beds” run by the SF Sheriff’s Office. People who are busted while high on fentanyl or other drugs could simply be given the chance to sober up on a bed and then hopefully seek drug treatment. The program would be run by some outfit called ConnectionsCA, which despite the name, appears to be based in Phoenix, Arizona.
Lurie then signed the center’s existence into law on Wednesday, saying in the tweet below that "Today, I signed legislation to open the new Rapid Enforcement, Support, Evaluation, and Triage Center—better known as the RESET Center.”
For too long, San Franciscans have been told that we must choose between clean, safe neighborhoods and compassion for those struggling on our streets.
— Daniel Lurie 丹尼爾·羅偉 (@DanielLurie) February 18, 2026
I ran for mayor because I believed we can—and should—do both. And today, we’re showing that our city doesn’t have to choose… pic.twitter.com/zTKNPDRpw5
But KTVU reports on worries voiced by the City Attorney's Office that the RESET Center may not even be legal. According to KTVU, “The program is raising some concerns. City officials have confirmed a confidential memo from the city attorney's office raising questions whether the RESET center can be legally considered a jail or detention facility.”
Mayor Lurie's new South of Market "sobering center" is legally risky & could invite a lawsuit, a confidential city attorney's memo found.
— Mission Local (@MLNow) February 11, 2026
The center, where deputies can arrest & hold inebriated people, could be viewed by a court as a "detention facility."https://t.co/PuMo1qWrpy
That KTVU reporting picks up on the confidential City Attorney memo originally reported last week by Mission Local. Mission Local managed to obtain that confidential memo, which stated that that the proposed center had a “failure to comply with State law” in terms of staffing, safety checks, and detox treatment. The memo also acknowledges a potential serious liability that anyone who went through the center could then sue the city for “non-compliance with standards for detention facilities.”
When the investigation identifies who unlawfully disclosed confidential @SFCityAttorney advice, I’ll introduce a censure motion against the @SFBOS member involved. City officials who violate these laws are subject to penalties and “removal from office due to official misconduct.” pic.twitter.com/0Z2p5YNJHc
— Matt Dorsey (@mattdorsey) February 11, 2026
And goodness gracious, is Supervisor Matt Dorsey angry that that confidential memo became public! “When the investigation identifies who unlawfully disclosed confidential @SFCityAttorney advice, I’ll introduce a censure motion against the @SFBOS member involved.” Dorsey fumed on Twitter last week. “City officials who violate these laws are subject to penalties and ‘removal from office due to official misconduct.’”
Will there seriously be an “investigation” into who leaked this memo? Dorsey is throwing around some very pointed language that some mystery supervisor might be “removed” from office, though as Mission Local notes, “Lurie, Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, police chief Derrick Lew, and Director of Public Health Daniel Tsai also received the memo.” So that’s also a lot of City Hall officials (and their staffers) who may have seen the memo and could have been the leakers as well.
Maybe the City Attorney's legal concerns are ticky-tack, and maybe the RESET Center will go off without a hitch. And maybe, just maybe, this very small and modest drug rehab program will save some folks from addiction, or maybe it will set off some witch hunt inquisition that Supervisor Dorsey seems to want at the SF Board of Supervisors.
Image: @DanielLurie via Twitter
