BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Tom Torlakson, Chairman
2937 (Solorio)
Hearing Date: 7/7/08 Amended: 6/5/08
Consultant: Katie Johnson Policy Vote: Public Safety 3-2
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 2937 would increase the compensation for a
person who has been wrongfully convicted of a crime and would
extend the timeframe in which a person could bring a claim. The
bill would provide that a finding that a person is factually
innocent is admissible as evidence in a hearing of the
California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board. The
bill would provide that whenever a person is vacated of a charge
based on a determination that he or she is factually innocent, a
judge would order that the records be sealed and that the person
may say they were not arrested or convicted for that charge.
The bill would also provide that a local social service agency,
as determined by a county's board of supervisors, would be
required to provide a case manager to administer reentry
assistance for any person whose criminal conviction was vacated
by the court and requests the assistance. Upon vacation, the
court of conviction would send notice of the individual's
exoneration to the local reentry assistance agency in the county
where the person would choose to reside.
The bill would require the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) to provide a person whose criminal
conviction has been vacated with release funds.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 Fund
New Claims $125 $250
$250 General
Sealing of Records minor, absorbable
costsGeneral
Reentry Assistance $13 - 42 $37 - 83 $37 -
83 General
Release Funds less than $1 annually
General
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to
the Suspense File.
This bill would increase the compensation for a person who has
been wrongfully erroneously convicted of a crime by about 37% of
current rates. Under current law, a claimant would be awarded
$100 per day of prison confinement, or $36,500 per year. This
bill would increase this amount to $50,000 per year, or
approximately $137 per day. Additionally, current law provides
$100 compensation per day for a claimant who sat on death row,
or $36,500 per year. This bill would increase this amount to
$100,000 per year, or approximately $274 per day.
Page 2
AB 2937 (Solorio)
The average annual claim paid from the General Fund is $671,380
for the years 2002-2006. The Legislature did not approve a claim
of $74,600 for David Jones in 2007. This bill would provide for
a 37% increase of the amount paid per day of prison confinement.
Thus, the state would expect to pay about $250,000 more each
year in claims. Since none of the claims in recent history has
involved a death row inmate, there would be significant, but
unknown costs. If a person had been on death row for 20 years,
he or she could claim approximately $2,000,200 under this
provision.
In addition, this bill would extend the timeframe in which a
person may file a claim from 6 months to 2 years after his or
her exoneration date. This could lead to additional claims
filed.
This bill would require that any person whose crime has been
vacated would, upon request, receive reentry services from a
local social service agency, to be identified by each county's
board of supervisors no later than by April 1, 2009. The bill
would not define the local social services agency. CDCR, which
provides reentry assistance to parolees, estimates the delivery
of these services would cost approximately $50,000 per person
annually. CDCR does not track the numbers of exonerated
individuals. By way of estimating costs, 10 people have applied
to the Victims Compensation and Government Claims board in the
last 6 years for compensation for time served. Thus, the average
annual cost of reentry services would be approximately $83,000,
or 1.6 people at $50,000 per year. The Life After Exoneration
Program, an organization that provides reentry assistance to
exonerees, estimates 10 new exonerees in California each year
and that services for those 10 people would cost $373,000
annually, or $37,300 per exoneree.
This bill would require CDCR to provide a person whose crime has
been vacated with release funds of $200.
The timeline for this process is unclear, in that the bill would
require the clerk of a court that would vacate a sentence to
inform the local social service agency in the county where the
exonerated person chooses to reside of the person's exoneration
within two days of the decision. This bill would then require
the local agency to assign a case manager to the person within
14 days of notification and that the case manager would assist
the person for two years from the date of release, unless he or
she declines the assistance or the agency determines the person
intends to reside in another county.
In a separate subdivision, this bill would require that, upon
the request of the person who has been exonerated, a local
agency would provide a person with the assistance of a case
manager for a period of two years from the date of the
assignment of the case manager to the person.
Staff recommends clarifying the two points as such: 1) that the
two years of assistance would begin on the date of assignment of
the case manager, and 2) that the exoneree would choose to
accept or decline the reentry assistance when the court vacates
the conviction.