BILL NUMBER: SB 1201	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 20, 2010
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 5, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Senator DeSaulnier

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2010

   An act to amend Section 290.06 of the Penal Code, relating to sex
offenders.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1201, as amended, DeSaulnier. Sex offenders: assessments.
   Existing law, the Sex Offender Registration Act, provides that
persons convicted of specified sex offenses are required to register
with law enforcement  ,  as specified. Existing law requires
that persons required to register as sex offenders be subject to
assessment by the State-Authorized Risk Assessment Tool for Sex
Offenders (SARATSO), as specified. Existing law requires the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the State Department
of Mental Health to perform a risk assessment of every eligible
person under their jurisdiction, as specified. Existing law provides
that the definition of "eligible person" for this purpose means a
person convicted of an offense that requires him or her to register
pursuant to a specified provision of the act and who is eligible for
assessment. The act, in addition to the provision specified in this
definition of "eligible person," also provides registration
requirements for the registration of, among others, persons convicted
of registerable offenses in out-of-state, federal, military courts,
and registration of out-of-state residents working or attending
school in California.
   This bill would require the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation to assess every person on parole transferred from any
other state or by the federal government to this state who has been,
or is hereafter convicted in any other court, including any state,
federal, or military court, of any offense that, if committed or
attempted in this state, would require the person to register as a
sex offender, as specified.  The bill would specify that this
assessment shall occur no later than 60 days after the placement of
the person under the parole supervision of the department.  The
bill would revise the definition of "eligible person" for the purpose
in the paragraph above to include all persons required to register
as sex offenders pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 290.06 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   290.06.  The SARATSO, as set forth in Section 290.04, shall be
administered as follows:
   (a) (1) The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall
assess every eligible person who is incarcerated in state prison.
Whenever possible, the assessment shall take place at least four
months, but no sooner than 10 months, prior to release from
incarceration.
   (2) The department shall assess every eligible person who is on
parole if the person was not assessed prior to release from state
prison. Whenever possible, the assessment shall take place at least
four months, but no sooner than 10 months, prior to termination of
parole. The department shall record in a database the risk assessment
scores of persons assessed pursuant to this paragraph and paragraph
(1), and any risk assessment score that was submitted to the
department by a probation officer pursuant to Section 1203.
   (3) The department shall assess every person on parole transferred
from any other state or by the federal government to this state who
has been, or is hereafter convicted in any other court, including any
state, federal, or military court, of any offense that, if committed
or attempted in this state, would have been punishable as one or
more of the offenses described in subdivision (c) of Section 290.
 The assessment required by this paragraph shall occur no later
than 60 days after the placement of the person under the parole
supervision of the department. 
   (4) The State Department of Mental Health shall assess every
eligible person who is committed to that department. Whenever
possible, the assessment shall take place at least four months, but
no sooner than 10 months, prior to release from commitment. The State
Department of Mental Health shall record in a database the risk
assessment scores of persons assessed pursuant to this paragraph and
any risk assessment score that was submitted to the department by a
probation officer pursuant to Section 1203.
   (5) Commencing January 1, 2010, the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation and the State Department of Mental Health shall send
the scores obtained in accordance with paragraphs (2), (3), and (4)
to the Department of Justice Sex Offender Tracking Program not later
than 30 days after the date of the assessment. The risk assessment
score of an offender shall be made part of his or her file maintained
by the Department of Justice Sex Offender Tracking Program as soon
as possible without financial impact, but no later than January 1,
2012.
   (6) Each probation department shall assess every eligible person
for whom it prepares a report pursuant to Section 1203.
   (7) Each probation department shall assess every eligible person
under its supervision who was not assessed pursuant to paragraph (5).
The assessment shall take place prior to the termination of
probation, but no later than January 1, 2010.
   (b) Eligible persons not assessed pursuant to subdivision (a) may
be assessed as follows:
   (1) Upon request of the law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction
in which the person is registered pursuant to Sections 290 to
290.023, inclusive, the person shall be assessed. The law enforcement
agency may enter into a memorandum of understanding with a probation
department to perform the assessment. In the alternative, the law
enforcement agency may arrange to have personnel trained to perform
the risk assessment in accordance with subdivision (d) of Section
290.05.
   (2) Eligible persons not assessed pursuant to subdivision (a) may
request that a risk assessment be performed. A request form shall be
available at registering law enforcement agencies. The person
requesting the assessment shall pay a fee for the assessment that
shall be sufficient to cover the cost of the assessment. The risk
assessment so requested shall be performed either by the probation
department, if a memorandum of understanding is established between
the law enforcement agency and the probation department, or by
personnel who have been trained to perform risk assessment in
accordance with subdivision (d) of Section 290.05.
   (c) On or before January 1, 2008, the SARATSO Review Committee
shall research the appropriateness and feasibility of providing a
means by which an eligible person subject to assessment may, at his
or her own expense, be assessed with the SARATSO by a governmental
entity prior to his or her scheduled assessment. If the committee
unanimously agrees that such a process is appropriate and feasible,
it shall advise the Governor and the Legislature of the selected
tool, and it shall post its decision on the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation's Internet Web site. Sixty days after the
decision is posted, the established process shall become effective.
   (d) For purposes of this section,"eligible person" means a person
who was convicted of an offense that requires him or her to register
as a sex offender pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act and
who is eligible for assessment, pursuant to the official Coding Rules
designated for use with the risk assessment instrument by the author
of any risk assessment instrument (SARATSO) selected by the SARATSO
Review Committee.
   (e) Persons authorized to perform risk assessments pursuant to
this section, Section 1203, and Section 706 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code shall be immune from liability for good faith
conduct under this act.