BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 625
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 625 (Ammiano)
As Amended January 26, 2012
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 4-3 APPROPRIATIONS 9-7
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|Ayes:|Ammiano, Cedillo, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Mitchell, Skinner | |Bradford, Campos, Davis, |
| | | |Hall, Lara, Mitchell, |
| | | |Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Knight, Hagman, Hill |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, Gatto, |
| | | |Hill, Nielsen, Norby, |
| | | |Wagner |
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SUMMARY : Establishes a four-tiered registration system for sex
offenders for periods of 10 years, 20 years, or life and
additionally creates an "inactive registration" tier for those
individuals not otherwise registered. Specifically, this bill :
1)Defines "SARATSO" as the static State-Authorized Risk
Assessment Tool for Sex Offenders.
2)Defines "violent registerable offense" as an offense that is
both a registerable offense as a sex offense and a violent
felony as defined in "Three Strikes" law.
3)Defines "initial registration date" as either the date the
person was released from prison after incarceration for
conviction of a registerable offense, or the date of
conviction for a registerable offense for a person who was not
sentenced to prison.
4)Provides that every sex offender registrant shall be required
to register as tier one, tier two or tier three. For a period
commencing on that person's initial registration date, the
person shall remain a registrant for a period of 10 years, 20
years, or life, depending on which of the three tiers the
offender is placed.
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a) A tier one registrant shall be subject to registration
requirements for a period of 10 years. Tier one
registrants meet the following requirements:
i) Tier one registrants were convicted of a
registerable offense that is not a violent offense, nor
the molesting of a minor;
ii) The person's SARATSO is low, low-moderate, or
moderate, or the person is not eligible for assessment
under applicable specified codes;
iii) For a period of 10 years, commencing with the
person's initial registration date, the person is not
convicted of a registerable offense or a violent felony;
and,
iv) For a period of 10 years, commencing with the
person's initial registration date, the person is not
convicted of more than one specified felony.
b) A tier two registrant shall be subject to the
registration requirements for a period of 20 years. A
person is a tier two registrant when the following
conditions apply:
i) The person's score on the SARATSO was moderate-high
risk. The person was convicted of a violent registerable
offense, or the person was convicted of molestation;
ii) For a period of 20 years, commencing with the
person's initial registration date, the person is not
convicted of a registerable offense or a violent felony;
iii) For a period of 20 years, commencing with the
person's initial registration date, the person is not
convicted of more than one specified felony; and,
iv) The person was a tier one offender, but was
convicted of more than one specified felony, or was
convicted of a registerable offense or a violent felony
within 10 years of the person's initial registration
date.
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c) A tier three registrant shall be subject to the
registration requirements for life. A person is the tier
three registrant if any the following conditions apply:
i) The person's score on the SARATSO is high risk;
ii) Within 20 years of the person's initial registration
date, the person is convicted of a violent registerable
offense;
iii) The person has at any time been committed to a state
mental hospital as a sexually violent predator (SVP);
and,
iv) The person was a tier two registrant and
subsequently was convicted of more than one specified
felony, or the person was convicted of any specified
registerable offense after becoming a tier two offender
after having previously been a tier one offender.
5)States that persons required to register as tier two offenders
may, by filing an application, petition the Department of
Justice (DOJ) for tier one status if the person was convicted
of a registerable offense against no more than one victim 12
to 17 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. If DOJ determines that the person meets
the requirements for tier one status, DOJ shall grant the
petition.
6)Specifies that annoying or molesting a minor may not be
included as a Tier One registrant.
7)Creates phased implementation for the Department of Justice
(DOJ) to assign tiers and implement the provisions of this
bill as follows:
a) Beginning January 1, 2012, a tier level shall be
assigned by DOJ to each person who registered pursuant to
the Sex Offender Registration Act (Act) prior to January 1,
2012. The DOJ shall assign tier levels to these
registrants by reviewing registrants by birth year,
starting with the oldest;
b) Beginning January 1, 2014, a tier level shall be
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assigned when the person registers pursuant to the Act for
the first time; and,
c) Beginning January 1, 2017, a tier level shall have been
assigned to every person registered pursuant to the Act,
except that the DOJ shall not be required to assign a tier
level to a person who has not registered after January 1,
1996, unless the person registers again.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires persons convicted of specified sex offenses to
register for life, or reregister if the person has been
previously registered, upon release from incarceration,
placement, commitment, or release on probation. States that
the registration shall consist of all of the following:
a) A statement signed in writing by the person, giving
information as shall be required by DOJ and giving the name
and address of the person's employer, and the address of
the person's place of employment, if different from the
employer's main address;
b) Fingerprints and a current photograph taken by the
registering official;
c) The license plate number of any vehicle owned by,
regularly driven by or registered in the name of the
registrant;
d) Notice to the person that he or she may have a duty to
register in any other state where he or she may relocate;
and,
e) Copies of adequate proof of residence, such as a
California driver's license or identification card, recent
rent or utility receipt or any other information that the
registering official believes is reliable.
2)Provides that willful violation of any part of the
registration requirements constitutes a misdemeanor if the
offense requiring registration was a misdemeanor, and
constitutes a felony of the offense requiring registration was
a felony or if the person has a prior conviction of failing to
register.
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3)Provides that within three days thereafter, the registering
law enforcement agency or agencies shall forward the
statement, fingerprints, photograph, and vehicle license plate
number, if any, to the DOJ.
4)States that a misdemeanor failure to register shall be
punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one
year, and a felony failure to register shall be punishable in
the state prison for 16 months, 2 or 3 years.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, significant General Fund implementation costs, in the
range of $7 million over a five-year period, for feasibility
studies and major information technology changes to existing
data bases, as well as automated and manual record review.
Unknown significant annual state and local law enforcement
savings likely redirected to focus resources on higher risk
offenders.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "AB 625 creates a three-tier
registration system for persons required to register under the
state Sex Offender Registration Act based on the crime of
conviction, criminal history, and other risk factors so that the
state and local governments can concentrate on more closely
monitoring high and moderate risk sex offenders.
"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 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.
"This bill replaces the existing mandatory lifetime registration
requirements for persons convicted of specified sex crimes and
instead establishes three tiers of registration for periods of
10 years, 20 years, and life."
Please see the policy committee for a full discussion of this
bill.
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Analysis Prepared by : Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0003086