BILL NUMBER: AB 297	CHAPTERED  09/06/05

	CHAPTER  217
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 6, 2005
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  SEPTEMBER 6, 2005
	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 22, 2005
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  APRIL 21, 2005

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Yee

                        FEBRUARY 9, 2005

   An act to amend Sections 19583.5 and 19583.51 of the Government
Code, relating to state employees.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 297, Yee  State employees: requirements to file charges.
   Existing law permits any person, except for a current ward of the
California Youth Authority or a current inmate of the Department of
Corrections, with the consent of the State Personnel Board or the
appointing power, to file charges against a state employee requesting
that adverse action be taken for one or more causes for discipline.

   This bill would specify that a current patient of a facility
operated by the State Department of Mental Health also may not file
these charges against a state employee.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 19583.5 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   19583.5.  (a) Any person, except for a current ward of the
California Youth Authority, a current inmate of the Department of
Corrections, or a current patient of a facility operated by the State
Department of Mental Health, with the consent of the board or the
appointing power may file charges against an employee requesting that
adverse action be taken for one or more causes for discipline
specified in this article. Charges filed by a person who is a state
employee shall not include issues covered by the state's employee
grievance or other merit appeals processes. Any request of the board
to file charges pursuant to this section shall be filed within one
year of the event or events that led to the filing. The employee
against whom the charges are filed shall have a right to answer as
provided in this article. In all of these cases, a hearing shall be
conducted in accord with this article and if the board finds that the
charges are true it shall have the power to take any adverse action
as in its judgment is just and proper. An employee who has sought to
bring a charge or an adverse action against another employee using
the grievance process, shall first exhaust that administrative
process prior to bringing the case to the board.
   (b) This section shall not be construed to supersede Section
19682.
  SEC. 2.  Section 19583.51 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   19583.51.  (a) Effective January 1, 1996, notwithstanding Section
19583.5, this section shall only apply to state employees in State
Bargaining Unit 5. Any person, except for a current ward of the
California Youth Authority, a current inmate of the Department of
Corrections, or a current patient of a facility operated by the State
Department of Mental Health, with the consent of the board or the
appointing power may file charges against an employee requesting that
adverse action be taken for one or more causes for discipline
specified in this article. Any request of the board to file charges
pursuant to this section shall be filed within one year of the event
or events that led to the filing.  The employee against whom the
charges are filed shall have a right to answer as provided in this
article. In all of these cases, a hearing shall be conducted in
accordance with this article and if the board finds that the charges
are true it shall have the power to take any adverse action as in its
judgment is just and proper.
   (b) This section shall not be construed to supersede Section
19682.
   (c) Any adverse action, as defined by Section 19576.1, that
results from a request to file charges pursuant to this section, is
subject to the appeal procedures in Section 19576.1.