BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1958
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 7, 2008
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Mark DeSaulnier, Chair
AB 1958 (Swanson) - As Amended: March 25, 2008
SUBJECT : Department of Motor Vehicles records: confidentiality
SUMMARY : Adds certain veterinarians, firefighters, and code
enforcement officers to the list of occupations whose records
are granted enhanced confidentiality by the Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV). Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires DMV to apply specified confidentiality protections to
the home addresses in their records that are obtained from:
a) Veterinarians employed by: a zoo; a public animal
control agency shelter; or a society for the prevention of
cruelty to animals shelter or a humane society shelter
contracting with a local public agency for animal care or
protection services;
b) Firefighters; and,
c) Code enforcement officers employed by local government
agencies.
2)Provides definitions for the terms "veterinarian," "zoo," and
"code enforcement officer."
EXISTING LAW :
1)Lists 24 classes of persons primarily in law enforcement
fields, plus the spouses and children of those persons, and
allows them to request that their home addresses be held
confidential by DMV. The home address of these persons may
only be disclosed to a court, a law enforcement agency, the
state Board of Equalization (BOE), or any governmental agency
legally required to be furnished that information.
2)Affords confidentiality for the home addresses of all
individuals contained within DMV records. These provisions
similarly allow for disclosure to courts, law enforcement
agencies, and other governmental agencies but also allow for
limited disclosure to financial institutions, insurance
AB 1958
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companies, attorneys, vehicle manufacturers, and persons doing
statistical research.
3)Grants DMV the authority to suppress all records for at least
one year for persons who are under threat of death or bodily
injury. Under these circumstances, the entire record,
including the address, is rendered inaccessible.
FISCAL EFFECT : Analyses by the Assembly Appropriations
Committee of similar legislation in prior years indicated annual
costs to DMV of less than $50,000.
COMMENTS :
The author contends that the reporting by veterinarians to local
law enforcement of suspected illegal dog fights has led to threats
of violence and death against them. Similarly, overzealous animal
rights activists have been overtly hostile and threatening toward
them. Such threats have caused veterinarians to fear for their
personal safety inside and outside of their work environment. This
bill seeks to protect veterinarians by adding them to a statutory
list of persons who home addresses within DMV records are afforded
enhanced confidentiality.
This bill affords the same protection to firefighters who,
according to the author, have been threatened with violence while
performing their duties. Specifically, while making routine
rescues, they may come across the location of drug and crack
houses.
Finally, the inclusion of code enforcement officers is justified by
the author citing an incident the entire family of an officer was
massacred as a result his having closed down and reported a drug
house leading to the jailing of the offenders. (Some supporters of
the bill are asking that it be amended to also afford
confidentiality to the records of crime scene investigators and
crime scene lab specialists employed by police or sheriffs
departments.)
Until 1989, DMV records were considered public records, unless
state law specifically made them confidential, as was the case
for peace officers' addresses. Therefore, until 1989, home
addresses were not considered confidential, and any person who
gave a reason that DMV deemed legitimate and could present to
DMV a person's driver's license number or license plate number
AB 1958
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could obtain address information on that individual.
In 1989, actress Rebecca Schaeffer was stalked and killed. The
murderer obtained her address from a private investigation
agency doing business in Arizona. The private investigation
agency acquired her address through a subcontractor agent in
California, who obtained it from DMV. In response, the
Legislature enacted AB 1779 (Roos), Chapter 1213, Statutes of
1989, which made home addresses in DMV records confidential,
with specified exceptions.
Since that time, despite the fact that all home addresses are
afforded a high degree of confidentiality, the Legislature has
considered numerous bills proposing to add select categories of
persons to the confidentiality provisions that apply to peace
officers. (The home addresses of peace officers and others on
the statutory list may only be disclosed to a court, a law
enforcement agency, the BOE, or any governmental agency legally
required to be furnished that information. The home addresses
of everyone else may also be disclosed, in limited
circumstances, to financial institutions, insurance companies,
attorneys, vehicle manufacturers, and persons doing statistical
research.)
Historically, the Senate Committee on Public Safety had
jurisdiction over a number of the confidentiality bills that
have been introduced during recent legislative sessions. After
much testimony and debate, it was decided that adding more
groups to the list of those eligible for peace officer
confidentiality served no useful purpose and was simply another
administrative burden for state and local agencies. The
testimony indicated that a growing number of private sources
provide home addresses with little or no scrutiny.
In fact, most persons seeking confidential information about
others no longer look to DMV records for the data since those
records are so carefully protected and much more easily
obtainable via the internet. DMV is not aware of any instance
since the enactment of AB 1779 where DMV home address
information has been used for a criminal purpose.
Most recent bills proposing to expand the statutory
confidentiality list have either died or been vetoed. In 2007,
AB 1311 (Berryhill) would have extended confidentiality
provisions to community service and public service officers
AB 1958
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employed by police departments. That bill died in the Assembly
Transportation Committee after being withdrawn by its author.
In 2005, AB 1706 (Strickland) would have added fraud
investigators, park rangers, emergency dispatchers, and DMV
employees who test new drivers. That bill also died in
committee. In the 2003-04 Session, AB 130 (Campbell) and AB 246
(Cox) both would have added members of Congress to the existing
statutory list. Neither author ever took up his bill in
committee. AB 2012 (Chu) from that session would have made
court-appointed attorneys, their investigators and social
workers assigned to child abuse cases eligible for special
address confidentiality in the department's records. These
provisions were eventually amended out of that bill.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO (sponsor)
California Professional Firefighters
CDF Firefighters
Los Angeles Zoo
Organization of SMUD Employees
San Bernardino Public Employees Association (support seek
amendments to add CSIs)
San Luis Obispo County Employees Association (support seek
amendments to add CSIs)
Santa Rosa City Employees Association (support seek amendments
to add CSIs)
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093