BILL ANALYSIS
AB 50
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Date of Hearing: January 18, 2006
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Judy Chu, Chair
AB 50 (Leno) - As Amended: January 4, 2006
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 4-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill, as proposed to be amended, creates the Sex Offender
Containment and Management Act of 2006, which makes numerous
changes to laws relating to sex offenders. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Appropriates $15 million (GF) to support local Sexual Assault
Felony Enforcement (SAFE) teams. Funding would be in
proportion to a county's share of registered sex offenders.
2)Makes kidnapping with intent to commit a specified sex offense
punishable by life in prison with the possibility of parole.
3)Increases the penalty, from a misdemeanor to an alternate
felony/misdemeanor, for a person over 21 who contacts a person
under 14 for the purpose of luring that minor from his or her
home, as specified.
4)Increases the aggravated term for lewd and lascivious acts
upon a child under the age of 14 from eight to 10 years.
5)Increases the penalty, from a misdemeanor to an alternate
felony/misdemeanor, for distributing or providing matter
depicting a person under the age of 18 years engaging in or
simulating sexual conduct, or for using a minor to assist in
distributing or providing matter depicting a person under the
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age of 18 years engaging in or simulating sexual conduct.
6)Increases the penalty, from a misdemeanor to an alternate
felony/misdemeanor for possessing material depicting sexual
activity of persons under 18, for possession of more than 100
items.
7)Prohibits any person who is required to register as a sex
offender from being present on school grounds unless that
person is the parent or guardian of a child attending that
school or has prior written permission from the school.
8)Makes a first offense for continual sexual abuse of a child
eligible for a life sentence, as specified.
9)Increases parole from five to 10 years for lewd and lascivious
acts on a child and continuous sexual abuse of child.
10)Requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(DCR) to study the effects of its specialized intensive
high-risk sex offender parole caseload, with a two-year
analysis due January 1, 2009, an initial report January 1,
2010, and a final report January 1, 2012.
11)Requires the DCR to establish a specialized sex offender
treatment program based on a relapse and prevention model for
high-risk sex offender parolees similar to those offenders
targeted by the DCR's existing specialized intensive high-risk
sex offender parole programs.
12)Appropriates $8 million (GF) for global positioning system
(GPS) devices and parole staff to monitor high risk sex
offenders. This appropriation is intended to expedite the goal
of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to have
2,500 high risk sex offenders under GPS supervision by 2009.
FISCAL EFFECT
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Major ongoing GF costs - in the tens of millions of dollars -
for SAFE team grants, GPS equipment and staff, increased prison
penalties, new and expanded prison programs, and longer parole
terms. Specifically, these costs include:
1)$15 million GF appropriation for local SAFE team programs.
2)$8 million GF appropriation for GPS devices and staff to
monitor high risk sex offenders.
3)Increased annual GF costs for additional and longer prison
terms. If the increases proposed by this bill increase the
system's sex offender population by just five percent, the
cost increase would ultimately be about $15 million.
4)Longer parole periods for specified sex offenders would likely
result in annual GF costs in excess of $10 million for
increased caseloads and additional parole revocations.
Extension and potential expansion of DCR's intensive
supervision/relapse prevention program for high-risk sex
offender parolees could exceed $10 million, depending on the
scope of the effort.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . According to the author, "In recent years, several
new laws have been enacted to address the problem of sex
offenders in our communities. However, many of our efforts
have been stymied by the lack of state resources. Therefore,
it is important to focus our available resources wisely; that
is goal of this bill.
"This bill increases funding for SAFE teams which identify,
monitor, arrest and assist in the prosecution of sex offenders
who violate the terms and conditions of their probation or
parole or fail to comply with registration requirements. This
bill also makes significant changes to the punishment and
parole terms of sex offenders, including adding the continuous
sexual abuse of a child to the "one strike" sex law which
would allow the courts to sentence an offender to a term of
15- or 25-years-to-life, increasing the term of parole for
child molesters and increasing the aggravated term of
commitment for child molesters. This bill also creates a
treatment program for offenders who are currently in prison
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but scheduled for release. The goal is for offenders to begin
learning how to avoid future predatory behavior while still in
prison and to continue with a regimented treatment program
while on parole.
"This bill is a smart, sensible and effective way to enhance
community safety and decrease the likelihood that sexual
predators will re-offend, creating more victims."
2)Related Pending Legislation . SB 1128 (Alquist) would create
the Sex Offender Punishment, Control, and Containment Act of
2006, "a comprehensive strategy to protect California
communities from sex offenders." SB 1128, pending in the
Senate Rules Committee, is currently in outline form only.
3)Author's Amendments :
a) Name the measure the Sex Offender Containment and
Management Act of 2006.
b) Delete sections of the bill creating additional
conditions of parole for sex offenders.
c) Change the definition of luring a child to include the
intent to commit specified sex offenses.
d) Reduce the appropriation for SAFE teams from $20 million
to $15 million.
e) Add an $8 million GF appropriation for global
positioning system devices and parole staff to monitor high
risk sex offenders.
f) Add the provisions of AB 281 (Liu, 2005) which would
increase the penalty from a misdemeanor to an alternate
felony/misdemeanor for possessing material depicting sexual
activity of persons under 18, if a person possesses more
than 100 items. (AB 281 was held in the Senate Public
Safety Committee.)
g) Increase the penalty, from six months to one year, for a
registered sex offender being present on school grounds -
unless that person is the parent or guardian of a child
attending that school or has prior written permission from
the school - if the offender has a prior sexual offense
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against a child, as specified.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081