BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
33 (Nava and Cook)
Hearing Date: 08/02/2010 Amended: 07/15/2010
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Public Safety
7-0
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 33 would state that it is the intent of the
Legislature to: 1) encourage law enforcement agencies to obtain
and utilize the list, as specified, of registered sex offenders
from the Violent Crime Information Center (VCIC) in the event of
a reported stranger abduction of a child; and 2) that the
Legislature suggests that each law enforcement agency adopt,
promulgate, and offer training regarding missing children and
the reporting of missing children, as specified. This bill would
also require:
1) The Department of Justice (DOJ) to make accessible to
law enforcement agencies, as specified, the Peace Officer
Standards and Training Commission's (POST) "Guidelines for
Handling Missing Persons Investigations," relating to the
investigation of missing persons;
2) Law enforcement agencies to adopt a checklist document
directing peace officers on investigation guidelines and
resources available to them in the early hours of a missing
persons investigation, as specified, by January 1, 2012;
3) Law enforcement agencies to adopt a policy, regulations,
or guidelines on missing persons investigations, as
specified, January 1, 2012;
4) Law enforcement agencies to utilize DOJ's missing person
reporting form, at a minimum for the initial contact with
the parent or family member reporting a missing person;
5) The POST commission to modify its missing persons
investigations guidelines and curriculum with contemporary
information, as specified, by January 1, 2012;
6) VCIC to make available, within two hours of a reported
stranger abduction of a child, a list of persons required
to register as sex offenders based upon the modus operandi,
if available, or the specified geographical location from
which the child was abducted.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12
2012-13 Fund
DOJ notifications/information Minor and
absorbable workload General
Mandate: local law enforcement Potentially significant
reimbursable costs General
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
AB 33 would require DOJ to make available, within a specified
time frame of a reported stranger abduction of a child, a list
of persons required to register as sex offenders based on
certain circumstances, and to make accessible to law enforcement
agencies specified missing persons-related guidelines. DOJ has
indicated that the department can comply with these provisions
without the necessity of any additional resources.
Page 2
AB 33 (Nava and Cook)
This bill would also require law enforcement agencies, by
January 1, 2012, to adopt a checklist document directing peace
officers on investigation guidelines and resources available to
them in the early hours of an investigation; to adopt a policy,
regulations, or guidelines on missing persons investigations
that are consistent with state and federal law; and to utilize
the department's missing person reporting form, for the initial
contact with the parent or family member reporting a missing
person. These activities constitute new state mandates on local
law enforcement agencies, and are likely to be deemed by the
Commission on State Mandates to be reimbursable.
The cost of the potentially reimbursable mandates on local law
enforcement agencies will depend on the staff time and
additional resources that various local agencies require to
implement this bill's provisions. While the bill provides that
the required checklist document should be modeled after an
existing POST document, the actual requirement is to develop a
new document. Local law enforcement agencies might utilize a
stakeholder work group process, divert staff to work on
evaluating the POST document, or pursue any number of reasonable
activities as part of the process for creating the checklist.
All of those activities are potentially reimbursable by the
state. The same is true of the requirement to adopt "a policy,
regulations, or guidelines" on missing persons investigations.
In some counties and cities, these requirements will be simple
(they could even choose to simply adopt the existing documents
provided by DOJ as their own) and will not incur costs above the
mandate threshold. This bill does not specify a process,
however, of how these requirements will be implemented locally.
This bill also requires local law enforcement to use DOJ's
missing person form, at a minimum for the initial missing person
report. Any training that a local law enforcement agency
provides its officers and other staff with regard to this
requirement could also constitute a reimbursable state mandate.