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
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          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.
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            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
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____

          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.