BILL ANALYSIS AB 2295 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 20, 2010 Counsel: Gabriel Caswell ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY Tom Ammiano, Chair AB 2295 (De La Torre) - As Amended: April 6, 2010 SUMMARY : Requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to permanently retain all files prepared by the Division of Adult Parole Operations regarding any person who was paroled who has been imprisoned for committing a serious felony or a violent felony or who is required to register as a sex offender. EXISTING LAW : 1)Provides that a parolee's parole terminates after the parole has served the entire time of parole, when the parole authority discharges the parolee from parole for good cause, or by operation of law. [Penal Code Sections 3000(b)(1)-(2), and 3001.] 2)Depending on the commitment offense, a parolee must be discharged within 30 days after the end of the first, second or third continuous year on parole if the Board of Parole Hearings does not order retention. (Penal Code Section 3001.) 3)Specifies that parole entails supervision and surveillance, including the judicious use of revocation actions, and should also include vocational, family, and personal counseling necessary to assist parolees in the process. [Penal Code Section 3000(1).] 4)States that unless parole is waived by Board of Parole Hearings for good cause, all prisoners must serve a period of parole. [Penal Code Section 3000(b).] 5)Specifies that nearly all determinately sentenced prisoners are subject to three years of parole. That period can be extended to four years for misconduct that results in parole revocation. [Penal Code Sections 3000(b)(5), and 3057(a).] AB 2295 Page 2 6)States that ordinarily a prisoner is paroled to the county that was his or her last legal residence before incarceration. [Penal Code Section 3003(a).] FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : 1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "[w]e have an obligation to prioritize the retention of parole files that could be of value to law enforcement in identifying and apprehending dangerous individuals. It defies logic that CDCR policies require longer retention periods for expense receipts and other minor documents than for parole agents' notes of offenders' habits and behaviors. AB 2295 will place parole file retention requirements into statute to ensure that important information related to dangerous offenders is retained for use by law enforcement." 2)Background : According to the background submitted by the author, "John Albert Gardner served a six-year prison sentence for lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14 and false imprisonment. He was then placed on parole for three years and discharged in September 2008. In February 2010, Gardner was arrested in connection with the death of seventeen-year-old Chelsea King who disappeared on February 25, 2010. Gardner is also a suspect in the murder of fourteen-year-old Amber Dubois who was last seen on February 13, 2009. "These tragic events and the surrounding investigation brought to light the fact that CDCR Policy (DOM section 81090.8) requires the destruction of parolee Field Files one year after the individual is discharged from parole. Gardner is a sex offender who was discharged from parole on September 26, 2008. According to CDCR policy at the time, his Field File would have been destroyed on September 26, 2009. On March 5, 2010, CDCR issued a Fact Sheet to the public stating that the suspect's parole file has been destroyed 'thus, there are no documents related to him.' "On March 9, 2010, CDCR and Governor Schwarzenegger issued press releases stating that CDCR's policy for the retention of parolee Field Files had been changed. According to CDCR, 'effective immediately' they would 'retain all documents AB 2295 Page 3 related to the parole supervision of all sex offenders indefinitely.' Information provided by CDCR indicates that the new policy was implemented on March 11, 2010. "While some field documents are forwarded to the Department's central file, other documents, such as parole agents' detailed observations and records of interactions with parolees are destroyed. The destruction of parolee Field Files may impede the work of law enforcement and place the public at risk because it deprives law enforcement of valuable information regarding the behavior and habits of a suspect." 3)Parole Generally : The status of parole is granted to any prisoner on release from a California prison after serving his or her sentence. (Penal Code Section 3000). Although no longer in physical custody, a parolee is required to comply with specified restrictions to his or her freedom. [People v. Burgener (1986) 41 Cal 3d 505, 531.] A prisoner on parole can be either a determinately sentenced prisoner or an indeterminately sentenced prisoner serving a sentence of life with the possibility of parole. The purpose of parole is to provide a transition period for a formerly incarcerated person so that he or she may reintegrate into the community. In general, parole involves supervision and surveillance. The goals of parole include public safety, reintegration of the parolee back into society, and making parole decisions that are fiscally responsible on behalf of California. [Penal Code Section 3000(a).] Parole is meant to be reformatory in purpose; the object is to mitigate the rigor of the prison system and to allow the prisoner to reenter society by replacing continued incarceration with a conditional freedom controlled by parole conditions. [Penal Code Section 3056; People v. Denne (1956) 141 Cal App 2d 499, 507.] Parole provides a testing period for the reintegration of a prisoner into society. [In re Carabes (1983) 144 Cal App 3d 927, 931.] REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support None Opposition AB 2295 Page 4 None Analysis Prepared by : Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744