BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 17 X1
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 17 X1 (Blumenfield)
As Amended September 7, 2011
Majority vote. Budget Bill Appropriation Takes Effect Immediately
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(June 3, 2011) |SENATE: |22-14|(September 7, |
| | | | | |2011) |
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(vote not relevant)
SUMMARY : Makes various technical, clarifying, and conforming
changes to implement the 2011 public safety realignment proposal as
contained in AB 109 (Budget Committee), Chapter 15, Statutes of
2011; AB 117 (Budget Committee), Chapter 39, Statutes of 2011; and,
AB 116 (Budget Committee), Chapter 136, Statutes of 2011, pertaining
to the public safety realignment of 2011.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill, and
instead:
1)Refine the definition of felony crimes punishable by imprisonment
in county jail as stated in subdivision (h) of Penal Code Section
1170.
a) The following crimes as felonies are subject to imprisonment
in state prison and not county jail:
i) Penal Code Section 4501.1 (battery on peace officer by
gassing);
ii) Penal Code Section 4530 (escape from prison facility);
iii) Penal Code Section 12021.5 (possession of firearm during
street gang crime); and,
iv) Penal Code Section 12025 (unlawfully carrying a
concealed firearm).
b) The following crimes as felonies are subject to imprisonment
in county jail if otherwise statutorily qualified:
i) Health and Safety Code Section 11355 (sale or furnishing
substance falsely represented to be a controlled substance);
and,
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ii) Health and Safety Code Section 11382 (sale or furnishing
substance falsely represented to be a controlled substance).
c) Clarify exception to felony jail incarceration, including
out-of-state convictions.
1)Clarify the application of sentencing enhancements and penalties
for priors to state prison and jail felony terms.
2)Conform county jail custody credits to the equivalent state prison
inmate custody credits, including fire camp. Also makes technical
changes to make pre-sentence credits consistent with post-sentence
credits and excludes periods of "flash" incarceration from credits
at county jails.
3)Specify how post-release community supervision applies to
"grandfathered" parolees who were paroled from state prison prior
to October 1, 2011. These amendments clarify that any
discretionary discharge of a grandfathered parolee after six
consecutive months of being violation free will not apply to
parolees who, 1) are subject to a parole period that exceeds three
years; 2) were imprisoned for a serious or violent offense; or 3)
are required to register as a sex offender, as specified. These
amendments also provide that grandfathered parolees being held for
a parole violation in state prison on October 1, 2011, upon
completion of a revocation term on or after November 1, 2011,
shall be subject to parole or post-release community supervision
according to their offense history, as provided by the 2011 public
safety realignment measures previously enacted. These amendments
further clarify that parolees in county jail on October 1, 2011,
serving a parole revocation term who are released from jail
without returning to a state facility on or after October 1, 2011,
shall remain under the jurisdiction of California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) state parole. These
amendments clarify that any parolee in jail or state prison
pending a final adjudication of a parole revocation charge prior
to October 1 may be returned to state prison for up to 12 months,
as specified, and that any subsequent parole revocations of a
parolee on post-release community supervision shall be served in
county jail.
4)Conform the release to post-release community supervision with
current state parole practice that prohibits these persons from
being released on a holiday or weekend.
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5)Create a process for inter county transfers of persons subject to
post-release community supervision.
6)Clarify the role of post-release community supervision by
expressly including language that does the following:
a) Include the availability of continuous electronic
monitoring;
b) State that any period of time during which a person has
absconded shall not be credited towards any period of
post-release supervision;
c) Authorize peace officers to arrest a person on post-release
supervision where there is probable cause to believe the person
is violating a term of release;
d) Authorize county supervising officers to seek a warrant, and
a court or its subordinate officer to issue, a warrant for the
person's arrest, as specified;
e) Add tolling language suspending the supervision period where
a person subject to supervision is subject to an arrest warrant
for failure to appear;
f) Provide that every person subject to post-release community
supervision, and their residences and possessions, are subject
to search or seizure at any time of the day or night with or
without a warrant, by a supervising agent or peace officer;
and,
g) Expand the sole and exclusive authority of the sheriff over
the county jail to include a cross-reference to persons
confined for a violation of the terms and conditions of
post-release community supervision.
1)Clarify that sex offender and lifer state parolees who are
convicted of a new non-serious, non-violent, non-sex felony while
on parole will continue to be subject to state parole for a period
at least as long as the parole period they were subject to when
they committed the new crime.
2)Clarify that existing statutory provisions that allow for persons
who are subject to up to three years of parole supervision may be
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discharged from parole after six months of continuous parole
supervision do not apply to persons imprisoned for committing a
violent or serious felony, or who are required to register as a
sex offender.
3)Allow counties without an established public defender's office to
access funds for those purposes from the "District Attorney and
Public Defender Account."
4)Make technical revisions concerning operative dates of the 2011
public safety realignment.
5)State legislative intent language concerning the enactment of the
2011 public safety realignment with respect to the management of
the prison population and expressly states it constitutes the
approval required by Section 2 of Chapter 706 (Statutes of 2007)
relating to the conversion of a female prison to a male prison.
6)Make non-substantive chaptering amendments.
7)Add an appropriation allowing this bill to take effect immediately
upon enactment.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill expressed the intent of the
Legislature to enact statutory changes relating to the 2011 Budget
Act.
COMMENT: This bill continues the implementation of the 2011 Public
Safety Realignment, which moved the responsibility for custody of
certain low-level felons, parolees, and juveniles from the State to
the counties. The framework for this transfer was contained in AB
109 (Budget Committee), Chapter 15, Statutes of 2011, which was
enacted in March of 2011. In June, AB 117 (Budget Committee),
Chapter 39, Statutes of. 2011, was enacted and AB 116 (Budget
Committee), Chapter 136, Statutes of 2011 provided for the
implementation of the transfer of this responsibility.
This bill reflects the input from local public safety, counties, and
other stakeholders and adds more specificity regarding the
implementation of this shift in responsibility, which will occur on
October 1, 2011. Much of the bill is intended to address specific
concerns from these stakeholders that parts of the current statute
regarding local custody and post release programs could be
misinterpreted. As a result, the bill includes several provisions
to clarify and define elements of these new programs, to address
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these concerns.
Analysis Prepared by : Marvin Deon / BUDGET / (916) 319-2099
FN: 0002796