BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 625
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 18, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                   AB 625 (Ammiano) - As Amended:  March 31, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              Public 
          SafetyVote:  4-3

          Urgency:     no                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  


          This bill recasts the current lifetime sex offender registration 
          schema into a three-tiered registration system for sex offenders 
          for periods of 10 years, 20 years, or life. Specifically, this 
          bill:  


          1)Requires every registered sex offender (RSO) to register as a 
            tier one, two or three offender. 


             a)   Tier one RSOs, subject to registration requirements for 
               10 years, are defined as follows:


               i)     Conviction for of a nonviolent registerable offense. 



               ii)    A low to moderate State-Authorized Risk Assessment 
                 Tool for Sex Offenders (SARATSO) or the person is not 
                 eligible for assessment under current law.


               iii)   No convictions for 10 years of a registerable sex 
                 offense or a violent felony. 


               iv)    No more than one felony conviction of the Act in 10 
                 years.








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             b)   Tier two RSOs, subject to registration requirements for 
               20 years, are defined as follows:


               i)     A moderate to high SARATSO score. 


               ii)    No convictions for 20 years, of a registerable 
                 offense or a violent felony.


               iii)   No more than one felony conviction of the Act in 20 
                 years.


               iv)    A tier one offender subsequently convicted of more 
                 than one specified felony, or a registerable offense 
                 within 10 years. 


             c)   Tier three RSOs, subject to registration requirements 
               for life, are defined as follows:


               i)     A high risk SARATSO score. 


               ii)    Conviction of a violent registerable offense within 
                 20 years.  


               iii)   Sexually Violent Predator status (SVP) at any time.


               iv)    A tier two registrant subsequently convicted of more 
                 than one specified felony, or a specified registerable 
                 offense after becoming a tier two offender after having 
                 previously been a tier one offender. 


          2)Provides that tier two SROs may petition the Department of 
            Justice (DOJ) for tier one status if convicted of a 
            registerable offense against no more than one victim 12 to 17 








                                                                  AB 625
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            years of age and the person was not more than 10 years older 
            than the victim and the act was illegal due solely to the age 
            of the minor.  


          FISCAL EFFECT


           1)DOJ indicates significant start-up GF costs, in the range of 
            $9 million over a three-year period, for feasibility studies 
            and major information technology changes to existing data 
            bases, as well as automated and manual record review.  


          2)DOJ also indicates significant ongoing GF costs, in the range 
            of $1 million.


            (DOJ indicates it would be unable to meet the Jan. 1, 2012 
            implementation date and suggests a two-year delayed activation 
            is more realistic. The fiscal estimates assume a delayed 
            activation date.)  


          3)Unknown ongoing moderate GF savings to the extent fewer low 
            level SROs could be prosecuted for failure to register, which 
            is a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the registerable 
            offense. 


          4)Ongoing indeterminable local and state law enforcement 
            efficiencies as a result of shifting the focus of RSO 
            monitoring to higher risk offenders. 


           COMMENTS  


           1)Rationale.  The author's objective is to create a risk-based 
            registration scheme, based on recommendations of the CA Sex 
            Offender Management Board (CASOMB) and other experts, to help 
            law enforcement focus on concentrate on higher risk offenders. 
             The author notes, "California is one of the few states that 
            requires lifetime registration with no discernment for the 
            type of offense, and California also does not allow people to 








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            petition for removal from the list even when their offenses 
            are not sexually violent or predatory, and they have no other 
            violations. This one-size-fits-all approach puts a strain on 
            state and local resources, casts all registrants in the same 
            predatory mold, and perpetuates misinformation."


            As noted by CASOMB, though the cost of registering and 
            monitoring registered sex offenders statewide has not been 
            quantified, there is a fiscal burden associated with these 
            functions at both the state and local levels. Focusing on 
            lifetime registration for offenders who are higher risk, more 
            violent, or who are repeat offenders allows cost savings while 
            at the same time permitting more intensive monitoring of those 
            offenders most likely to re-offend.

           2)CASOMB recommendations  . In it 2010 Recommendations Report, the 
            CASOMB noted California is one of the few states with lifetime 
            registration for all sex offenders. "On the positive side, 
            this allows the public to be aware of the majority of sex 
            offenders living in their neighborhoods. On the negative side, 
            the public and local law enforcement agencies have no way of 
            differentiating between higher and lower risk sex offenders. 
            In this one-size-fits-all system of registration, law 
            enforcement cannot concentrate its scarce resources on close 
            supervision of the more dangerous offenders or on those who 
            are at higher risk of committing another sex crime.

            "The CASOMB recommends a three-tier system of registration, 
            which will assign a tier level to each sex offender depending, 
            in part, on individual risk assessment, history of violent 
            convictions, and sexual offense recidivism."

           3)Other States  .  According to a CASOMB review:

             a)   Half of the states require 10 years for the majority of 
               registrants, and life for the rest, using risk assessment 
               or offense-based classifications to determine who registers 
               for life. 
             b)   Some states allow registrants to petition the courts for 
               termination of registration, often after 10 years of 
               registration. 
             c)   Five states require registration for 15 years, 25 years, 
               or life, depending on the offense. 
             d)   Other states use a combination of 15/life; 20/life; 








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               25/life; 5/10/20/life, 10/25/life; 10/15/25/life; or 
               10/15/20/life, depending on risk or offense 
               classifications.
             e)   Four states (California, Alabama, Florida, and South 
               Carolina) require lifetime registration for all 
               registrants, and one state requires 15 years for all 
               registrants.

            California has the most registered sex offenders in the 
            country:  about 90,000, 68,000 of whom are in the community. 
            The rest are incarcerated. This large number is due to the 
            population of the state, the length of time California has 
            registered sex offenders (retroactive to 1944), lifetime 
            registration, and a large number of offenses requiring 
            registration.

           4)Support  . According to the California Coalition on Sexual 
            Offending, "Universal lifetime registration for sex offenders 
            serves little purpose with respect to increasing community 
            safety. On the contrary, it dilutes resources and makes it 
            appear that there are huge numbers of highly dangerous 
            offenders living in the state. While a certain number of sex 
            offenders may well pose a continuing danger and should 
            continue to be required to register for life, many of those 
            currently listed pose no greater thread of sexually offending 
            than does the average adult male. The research supports a 
            differentiated approach using the best available science to 
            assess actual risk - an approach such as that introduced by AB 
            625. 
           
          5)No opposition to this measure has been received by the 
            committee  . 


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081