BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1738| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1738 Author: Tran (R) Amended: 5/24/10 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/15/10 AYES: Leno, Cogdill, Cedillo, Hancock, Huff, Steinberg, Wright SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 10-0, 6/28/10 AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Alquist, Corbett, Denham, Leno, Price, Walters, Wolk, Yee NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 4/22/10 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Domestic violence: incident reports SOURCE : Conference of California Bar Associations DIGEST : This bill expands the current law providing domestic violence victims with a free copy of the domestic violence incident report to include family members and additional representatives, as specified. ANALYSIS : Current law requires state and local law enforcement agencies to provide, without charging a fee, one copy of all domestic violence incident report face sheets, one copy of all domestic violence incident reports, CONTINUED AB 1738 Page 2 or both, to a victim of domestic violence, or to his/her representative if the victim is deceased, upon request. (Section 6228 of the Family Code [FAM]) Current law provides that, for purposes of this section, a representative of the victim where the victim is deceased, means any of the following: The surviving spouse. A surviving child of the decedent who has attained 18 years of age. A domestic partner. A surviving parent of the decedent. A surviving adult relative. The public administrator if one has been appointed. (FAM Section 6228(g)) This bill revises this list to include in this authority the "personal representative of the victim, as defined in Section 58 of the Probate Code, if one is appointed." This bill additionally authorizes "either of" the following persons as representatives entitled to this information where the victim is not deceased: A parent, sibling, or adult child of the victim, who shall present to law enforcement his or her identification and a signed authorization by the victim allowing that family member to act on behalf of the victim. An attorney for the victim, who shall present to law enforcement his or her identification and written proof that he or she is the attorney for the victim. A conservator or guardian of the victim. This bill provides that domestic violence incident report face sheets may not be provided to a representative of the victim unless both of the following conditions are met: 1. The representative presents his or her identification, such as a current, valid driver's license, a state-issued identification card, or a passport. CONTINUED AB 1738 Page 3 2. The representative presents one of the following: A. If the victim is deceased, a certified copy of the death certificate or other satisfactory evidence of the death of the victim at the time of the request. B. If the victim is alive, a written authorization signed by the victim making him/her the victim's personal representative. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Fiscal Impact (in thousands) Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund Expands state mandate Likely minor, possible reimbursable General/ Local SUPPORT : (Verified 6/29/10) Conference of California Bar Associations (source) Crime Victims Action Alliance Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the State Bar Peace Officers Research Association of California ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author states: "Current law authorizes a victim of domestic violence (or the representative of a deceased victim of domestic violence ?) to obtain one copy of the domestic violence incident report or domestic violence incident report face sheets, to support the evidentiary showing required to obtain a temporary restraining order or protective order, and for other purposes. However, the law does not permit the victim to authorize a representative, including the attorney hired to represent the victim in the matter, to CONTINUED AB 1738 Page 4 obtain a copy of the incident report or face sheets on the victim's behalf; a representative of the victim may only obtain a copy of the incident report or face sheets if the victim is deceased. Thus, a victim who is injured, has moved to another location, or is otherwise unable to appear in person, cannot obtain a copy of the incident report or face sheet. Existing law further does not authorize the conservator of a victim who has been determined incapacitated or the guardian of a minor victim to obtain a copy of the reports or face sheets on the victim's behalf. "AB 1738 ? would permit a victim of domestic violence to authorize a member of her or his immediate family (representative to obtain a copy of the incident report or face sheet on her or his behalf. It would also authorize the attorney of the victim hired to represent the victim in the matter related to the domestic violence and the conservator or guardian of the victim to obtain a copy of the incident report or face sheet. All authorizations would be subject to the existing prohibition against the reports or face sheets being provided to any person who has been convicted of murder in the first degree, as defined in Section 189 of the Penal Code, of the victim, or any person identified in the incident report face sheet as a suspect."ASSEMBLY FLOOR : AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez NO VOTE RECORDED: Blumenfield, Caballero, Huber, Huffman, Norby, Vacancy CONTINUED AB 1738 Page 5 RJG:mw 6/29/10 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED