BILL ANALYSIS Ó Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair AB 1432 (Mitchell) - Caylee's Law. Amended: May 25, 2012 Policy Vote: Public Safety 4-2 Urgency: Yes Mandate: Yes Hearing Date: June 25, 2012 Consultant: Jolie Onodera This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: AB 1432, an urgency measure, would make it a misdemeanor for a parent or guardian to fail to report the death or disappearance of a child under the age of 14 within 24 hours, as specified. Fiscal Impact: Ongoing minor court costs for new misdemeanor filings, likely less than $12,000 (General Fund) for 25 additional misdemeanor filings per year. Potential non-reimbursable local enforcement and incarceration costs, offset to a degree by fine revenue. While the impact of this bill independently is likely to be minor, the cumulative effect of all new misdemeanors could create General Fund cost pressure on capital outlay, staffing, programming, the courts, and other resources in the context of recently enacted 2011 Public Safety Realignment. Background: This bill is to be known as "Caylee's Law," named after the deceased daughter of Casey Anthony who was charged with murder following the disappearance of her two-year old daughter in Florida in 2008. The jury found Anthony not guilty of first degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated manslaughter of a child, but guilty of four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer. Media coverage of the trial garnered national attention, resulting in several other states introducing similar measures imposing stricter requirements on parents to notify law enforcement of the death or disappearance of a child. Proposed Law: This bill would require any parent or guardian AB 1432 (Mitchell) Page 1 having the care, custody, or control of a child under 14 years of age who knows or should have known that the child has died to notify a public safety agency within 24 hours of the time that the parent or guardian knew or should have known that the child has died. This requirement would not apply when a child is otherwise under the immediate care of a physician at the time of death, or if a public safety agency, coroner, or medical examiner is otherwise aware of the death. This bill would also require any parent or guardian having the care, custody, or control of a child under 14 years of age to notify law enforcement within 24 hours of the time that the parent or guardian knows or should have known that the child is a missing person and is at risk, as specified. This requirement would not apply if law enforcement is otherwise aware that the child is a missing person. A violation of either of the above provisions would be a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both that fine and imprisonment. This bill provides that nothing in the section shall preclude prosecution under any other provision of law. This bill contains an urgency clause stating it is necessary that this act take effect immediately in order to protect children at the earliest possible time from criminal acts that could lead to harm or death. Related Legislation: AB 1422 (Torlakson) Chapter 477/2000 created a misdemeanor offense for a person who is not a family member to fail to report the murder, rape, or lewd act on a child under the age of 14. Staff Comments: The provisions of this bill will result in likely minor non-reimbursable local law enforcement costs offset to a degree by fine revenue. The Judicial Council has indicated costs for increased misdemeanor filings would result in increased costs of approximately $12,000 (General Fund) statewide if 25 new misdemeanors were filed annually. The creation of new misdemeanors has historically been analyzed by this Committee to result in non-reimbursable state mandated costs for local law enforcement and incarceration. Staff notes, however, that the creation of new misdemeanors taken AB 1432 (Mitchell) Page 2 cumulatively could increase the statewide adult jail population to a degree that could potentially impact the flexibility of counties to manage their jail populations recently increased under the 2011 Public Safety Realignment. While the provisions of this bill are likely to be minor, the cumulative effect of all new misdemeanors could create unknown General Fund cost pressure on capital outlay, staffing, programming, the courts, and other resources.