BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1813| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1813 Author: Lieu (D) Amended: 4/15/10 in Assembly Vote: 21 SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/22/10 AYES: Leno, Cogdill, Cedillo, Hancock, Huff, Steinberg, Wright SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 5/6/10 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Public officials: personal information SOURCE : California Statewide Law Enforcement Association DIGEST : This bill includes the information provided to cellular phone applications in the information that a public official may ask to be removed from the internet and to expand the definition of peace officer within the definition of public official. ANALYSIS : Existing law, the Public Records Act (PRA), provides that all records of state and local agencies are open and the public has the right to inspect those records under specified conditions. The PRA exempts specified records, and other provisions of law exempt specified records from the PRA requirement of open records. CONTINUED AB 1813 Page 2 (Government Code Section 6250 et seq.) Existing law prohibits a state or local agency from posting on the Internet the home address or telephone number of any elected or appointed official without first obtaining the written permission of the elected official. (Government Code Section 6254.21(a).) Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for a person to knowingly post on the Internet the home address or telephone number of any elected or appointed official, his or her spouse or child, knowing that the information concerns an elected or appointed official and intending to cause imminent great bodily harm that is likely to occur, or threatening to cause imminent great bodily harm to that individual. A violation that leads to bodily injury of the official, his or her spouse or child, is prosecutable as a wobbler. (Government Code Section 6254.21(b).) Existing law states that no person, business, or association shall publicly post or publicly display on the Internet the home address or telephone number of any elected or appointed official if that official has made a written demand of that person, business, or association to not disclose his or her home address or telephone number. (Government Code Section 6254.21(c)(1)(A).) Existing law prohibits any person, business, or association from soliciting, selling, or trading on the Internet the home address or telephone number of an elected or appointed official with the intent to cause imminent great bodily harm to the official or to any person residing at the official's home address. (Government Code Section 6254.21(d)(1).) Existing law defines "elected or appointed official" to include, but is not limited to, all of the following: State constitutional officers Members of the Legislature Judges and court commissioners District attorneys Public defenders Members of a city council CONTINUED AB 1813 Page 3 Members of a board of supervisors Appointees of the Governor Appointees of the Legislature Mayors City attorneys Police chiefs and sheriffs A public safety official, as defined in Government Code Section 6254.24 State administrative law judges Federal judges and federal defenders and, Members of the United States Congress and appointees of the President. (Government Code Section 6254.21(1) to (16).) Existing law states nothing in this section is intended to preclude punishment instead under provisions of the Penal Code of or any other provision of law. (Government Code Section 6254.21(g).) This bill provides that the information that must be removed includes information provided to cellular telephone applications. Existing law defines public safety official for the purposes of Government Code Section 6254.21 as follows: 1. An active or retired peace officer as defined in Sections 830 and 830.1of the Penal Code. 2. An active or retired public officer or other person listed in Sections 1808.2 and 1808.6 of the Vehicle Code. 3. An "elected or appointed official" as defined in subdivision (f) of Section 6254.21. 4. An attorney employed by the Department of Justice, the State Public Defender, or a county office of the district attorney or public defender, the United States Attorney, or the Federal Public Defender. 5. A city attorney and an attorney who represent cities in criminal matters. CONTINUED AB 1813 Page 4 6. A specified employee of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation who supervises inmates or is required to have a prisoner in his or her care or custody, sworn or nonsworn employee who supervises inmates in a city police department, a county sheriff's office, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, federal, state, or a local detention facility, and a local juvenile hall, camp, ranch, or home, and a probation officer as defined in Section 830.5 of the Penal Code. 7. A federal prosecutor, a federal criminal investigator, and a National Park Service Ranger working in California. 8. The surviving spouse or child of a peace officer defined in Section 830 of the Penal Code, if the peace officer died in the line of duty. 9. State and federal judges and court commissioners. 10.An employee of the Attorney General, a district attorney, or a public defender who submits verification from the Attorney General, district attorney, or public defender that the employee represents the Attorney General, district attorney, or public defender in matters that routinely place that employee in personal contact with persons under investigation for, charged with, or convicted of, committing criminal acts. 11.A nonsworn employee of the Department of Justice or a police department or sheriff's office that, in the course of his or her employment, is responsible for collecting, documenting, and preserving physical evidence at crime scenes, testifying in court as an expert witness, and other technical duties, and a nonsworn employee that, in the course of his or her employment, performs a variety of standardized and advanced laboratory procedures in the examination of physical crime evidence, determines their results, and provides expert testimony in court. (Government Code Section 6254.24.) Existing law defines a number of different types of "peace officers" and people who have duties similar to peace CONTINUED AB 1813 Page 5 officers. (Penal Code Sections 830-830.65 and 830.7.) This bill includes in the definition of peace officer for the purposes of defining "public safety official" peace officers as defined in Penal Code sections 830-830.65 and a person who is not a peace officer but may exercise the powers of arrest during the course and within the scope of their employment pursuant to Penal Code section 830.7. This bill also extends the definition of peace officers to retired officers. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes SUPPORT : (Verified 8/2/10) Anaheim Police Officers Political Action Committee Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers California Correctional Peace Officers Association California District Attorneys Association California Probation Parole and Correctional Association California Public Defenders Association California State Sheriffs' Association Chief Probation Officers of California Irvine Police Association Los Angeles County Probation Officers Union Orange County Employees Association Peace Officers Research Association of California Riverside Sheriffs' Association ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, in the past two years, Los Angeles law enforcement officers were killed at their homes. These tragic deaths continue to serve as a reminder of how vulnerable our public safety officials are, even while off-duty at their homes. Current law allows public safety officials to opt-out of having their personal information on the internet; however, with the expansion of smart cellular phones (iphone, blackberry, droid, etc.) and their applications to the existing opt-out provisions under the Public Safety Officials Home CONTINUED AB 1813 Page 6 Protection Act. Additionally, this bill includes more peace officers to the definition of public safety officials for the existing opt-out provisions. This bill helps ensure the safety and wellbeing of more public safety officials and their families. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Norby, 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: Bass, Block, De La Torre, Gilmore, Mendoza, Vacancy RJG:do 8/2/10 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED