BILL ANALYSIS AB 923 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 20, 2009 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION Mike Eng, Chair AB 923 (Swanson) - As Amended: April 13, 2009 SUBJECT : Department of Motor Vehicles records: confidentiality SUMMARY : Adds Board of Equalization (BOE) members, certain veterinarians, 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) Constitutional officers of the BOE; b) 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; 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 23 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 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 AB 923 Page 2 limited disclosure to financial institutions, insurance 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 : An analysis by the Assembly Appropriations Committee of similar legislation in 2008 indicated annual costs to DMV of less than $50,000. COMMENTS : This is essentially a reintroduction of Mr. Swanson's AB 1958 from 2008, which died on Suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The sponsor of this bill contends that BOE members, in rendering decisions regarding tax issues, could be faced with challenges to their personal safety as a result of those decisions. Similarly, veterinarians may face threats by virtue of their euthanization of captured animals for public safety reasons or their reporting of suspected dog fights. Supporters also point out that code enforcement officers have been murdered in the line of duty over the past several years. The author, in fact, cites an instance where the entire family of a code enforcement officer was murdered as a result of his having reported and closed down a drug house. This bill seeks to protect BOE members, veterinarians, and code enforcement officers from persons who might seek to hunt them down in order to exact revenge by adding these professions to a statutory list of occupations whose home addresses within DMV records are afforded enhanced confidentiality. 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 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 AB 923 Page 3 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 have been vetoed. In 2007, AB 1311 (Berryhill) would have extended confidentiality provisions to community service and public service officers 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 AB 923 Page 4 (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. An additional factor in the issue of home address confidentiality came to light last year as a result of an investigation conducted by the Orange County Register. That investigation revealed thousands of unpaid violations and tolls accrued by a number of peace officers and other individuals whose DMV records are afforded enhanced confidentiality. These unpaid tolls and fines cost agencies in Orange County over $5 million over the past five years. Parking and toll agencies throughout the state, including those in San Diego and San Francisco, have experienced similar abuses. When parking agencies or toll road operators attempt to collect fines from such individuals, DMV is not able to provide the offender's registered addresses in a manner timely enough for fines to be collected under the statute of limitations. Therefore, it is generally not cost effective for agencies to pursue money owed, so that fines for these violations are usually written off. While some agencies attempt to collect the money by sending a notice to the individuals' employing entities on file at DMV, there is no way to enforce the collection of violations because this practice is not authorized under the law. AB 996 (Spitzer) of 2008 would have addressed this situation but was vetoed by the Governor last year. Related legislation : AB 592 (Bonnie Lowenthal) would extend the same confidentiality privileges to BOE staff who have police powers. That bill will also be heard in this committee today. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (sponsor) California Association of Code Enforcement Officers California Narcotic Officers Association California Police Chiefs Association AB 923 Page 5 San Diego Municipal Employees Association Opposition None received Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093