On March 3, Los Angeles County will vote on Measure R, which would give the L.A. Sheriff Department’s civilian oversight board increased subpoena power. It would also require the county to research and publish a plan that uses mental health treatment to lower the jail population.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has already voted to give the inspector general the power to issue subpoenas to investigate complaints from inmates and citizens. Measure R would give the same subpoena power to the Los Angeles County Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission.

We’ll look at the pros and cons of the measure, which started as an effort by grassroots organizers for prison reform. Join the conversation by calling 866-893-5722.

PRODUCER'S NOTE: We contacted the L.A. Sheriff's Department in advance of our segment airing this morning, but they were not able to confirm before we went to air that an LASD representative could participate in the discussion. Later on, after the segment had concluded, Sheriff Villanueva called into AirTalk on his own to respond. You can listen to that interview here.

We also reached out to the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, who were not able to provide someone for the interview, as well as the L.A. County Office of Inspector General, which hasn’t responded to our interview request. We'll update this segment if we receive a response.

Guests:

Lynne Lyman, strategy and policy consultant for the “Vote YES on R” campaign, which is the original campaign to pass the measure; she tweets @lynnelyman

Ryan Carter, city editor of the Los Angeles Daily News who’s been writing about this; he tweets