BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1835
Author: Fletcher (I), et al.
Amended: 5/25/12 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/26/12
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Calderon, Harman, Liu, Price,
Steinberg
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/31/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Sex offenders: state-authorized risk
assessment tool for sex offenders
SOURCE : Sex Offender Management Board
DIGEST : This bill allows access to sex offender
management professionals certified by the California Sex
Offender Management Board (Board) to all relevant records
pertaining to a sex offender registrant, as specified.
ANALYSIS : Existing law generally requires persons
convicted of enumerated sex offenses to register within
five working days of coming into a city or county, with
specified law enforcement officials in the city, county, or
city and county where he/she is domiciled, as specified.
(Penal Code (PEN) Section 290)
Existing law provides for the use of a "State-Authorized
Risk Assessment Tool for Sex Offenders (SARATSO)," (PEN
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Section 290.04.) specifies how and by whom the SARATSO
shall be administered, (PEN Section 290.06.) and
establishes a "SARATSO Review Committee" with the mission
of ensuring "that the SARATSO reflects the most reliable,
objective, and well-established protocols for predicting
sex offender risk of recidivism, has been scientifically
validated and cross validated, and is, or is reasonably
likely to be, widely accepted by the courts." (PEN Section
290.04(a)(2))
Existing law provides that any person authorized by statute
to administer the SARATSO and trained as specified, and any
person acting under authority from the SARATSO Review
Committee as an expert to train, monitor, or review scoring
by persons who administer the SARATSO, "shall be granted
access to all relevant records pertaining to a registered
sex offender, including, but not limited to, criminal
histories, sex offender registration records, police
reports, probation and presentencing reports, judicial
records and case files, juvenile records, psychological
evaluations and psychiatric hospital reports, sexually
violent predator treatment program reports, and records
that have been sealed by the courts or the Department of
Justice. Records and information obtained under this
section shall not be subject to the California Public
Records Act, . . . ." (PEN Section 290.07)
This bill amends this provision to provide access to these
records by sex offender management professionals certified
by the Board, as specified.
Comments
This bill makes a technical amendment to existing law by
authorizing persons certified by the Board for providing
programs for probation or parole-supervised sex offenders
to receive relevant records they need to complete the
static sex offender risk instrument - "SARATSO" - which is
used as part of the assessment of a sex offender's risk.
This is consistent with the provisions of the author's AB
1844, enacted in 2010, specifically related to
implementation of what is known as the "Containment Model"
for dealing with known sex offenders in the community.
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Prior legislation . AB 1844 (Fletcher), Chapter 219,
Statutes of 2010, passed the Senate Floor (36-0) on
8/24/10.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/26/12)
Sex Offender Management Board (source)
California District Attorneys Association
Peace Officers Research Association of California
State Coalition of Probation Organizations of California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author states, "Current law
permits persons authorized to administer the SARATSO to
view all relevant records pertaining to a registered sex
offender only when trained pursuant to Penal Code Section
290.06. SARATSO administrators trained pursuant to Section
290.09 are not permitted the same record access, preventing
them from being able to administer the SARATSO. AB 1835
would expand record access to SARATSO administrators to
include those trained under 290.09."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/31/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger
Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Miller,
Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Olsen, Pan, Perea,
V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth,
Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams,
Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ammiano, Fletcher, Mansoor, Mendoza,
Mitchell, Norby, Valadao
RJG:k 6/27/12 Senate Floor Analyses
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SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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