BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2635
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 5, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                  AB 2635 (Portantino) - As Amended:  April 5, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                              Public  
          SafetyVote:  7-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:   Yes        

           SUMMARY  


          This bill adds a nonsworn law enforcement employee whose job  
          description includes collecting fingerprints to the list of  
          persons (peace officers, firefighters, and emergency medical  
          personnel) who may seek to have an arrestee's blood tested,  
          either voluntarily or by court order, for HIV or Hepatitis B or  
          C, when exposed to an arrestee's bodily fluids during the course  
          of duty. 


           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Likely negligible state court costs/savings to the extent this  
          bill results in additional/fewer hearings for county detention  
          personnel forced to pursue a court hearing to obtain an  
          arrestee's blood sample in the wake of a bodily fluid exposure. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . Current law specifies that peace officers,  
            firefighters, or emergency medical personnel, who, in the  
            scope of duty, are exposed to an arrestee's blood or bodily  
            fluids, may, prior to filing a petition with the court, have a  
            licensed health care provider notify the arrestee of the  
            exposure and attempt to obtain consent of the arrestee to  
            perform a test for HIV, or hepatitis B nor C. If consent is  
            not provided, the official may petition the court for an order  
            requiring testing, as specified. If the court finds probable  
            cause indicates a potential exposure occurred, the court shall  
            order the arrestee to provide blood for testing, as specified.  








                                                                  AB 2635
                                                                  Page  2



            Because current law does not cover law enforcement agency  
            employees who collect fingerprints, and may therefore be  
            placed in harm's way, the author and the sponsor of this  
            measure - AFSCME - wish to expand the statute to do so.  

          2)Is this bill necessary  ? Though the sponsor cannot identify a  
            situation in which a nonsworn employee who collects  
            fingerprints was unable to obtain a necessary blood test  
            following an exposure incident involving an arrestee, or  
            forced to pursue a court-ordered solution, expanding the  
            statute to include these employees appears consistent with  
            legislative intent.  

          3)Prior legislation  , AB 169 (Portantino), Statutes of 2009,  
            added custodial officers, custody assistants, and non-sworn  
            uniformed employees of a law enforcement agency, to the list  
            of persons who may seek to have an arrestee's blood tested.   
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081