BILL NUMBER: AB 1855	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Torres

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2012

   An act to amend Section 6601 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to mental health.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1855, as introduced, Torres. Sexually violent predators:
evaluations.
   Existing law provides for the civil commitment of criminal
offenders who have been determined to be sexually violent predators
for treatment in a secure state hospital facility, as specified.
Under existing law, persons to be evaluated for civil commitment are
evaluated by 2 practicing psychiatrists or psychologists, or one
practicing psychiatrist and one practicing psychologist, designated
by the Director of Mental Health. If the evaluators agree, then a
petition for civil commitment may be filed. If the evaluators do not
agree, but one evaluator thinks that the person is eligible for
commitment, then 2 new evaluations by independent professionals, as
specified, are arranged and a petition may not be filed unless both
evaluators agree that the person meets the criteria.
   This bill would require, when the first 2 evaluators disagree, a
new evaluation by one independent professional to determine if the
person meets the criteria for commitment. If this independent
professional determines that the person meets the criteria, the bill
would require another evaluation by an independent professional, and
would require the second evaluator to concur that the person meets
the criteria before a petition may be filed.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 6601 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, as
amended by Section 3 of Chapter 359 of the Statutes of 2011, is
amended to read:
   6601.  (a) (1) Whenever the Secretary of the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation determines that an individual who is
in custody under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation, and who is either serving a determinate prison
sentence or whose parole has been revoked, may be a sexually violent
predator, the secretary shall, at least six months prior to that
individual's scheduled date for release from prison, refer the person
for evaluation in accordance with this section. However, if the
inmate was received by the department with less than nine months of
his or her sentence to serve, or if the inmate's release date is
modified by judicial or administrative action, the secretary may
refer the person for evaluation in accordance with this section at a
date that is less than six months prior to the inmate's scheduled
release date.
   (2) A petition may be filed under this section if the individual
was in custody pursuant to his or her determinate prison term, parole
revocation term, or a hold placed pursuant to Section 6601.3, at the
time the petition is filed. A petition shall not be dismissed on the
basis of a later judicial or administrative determination that the
individual's custody was unlawful, if the unlawful custody was the
result of a good faith mistake of fact or law. This paragraph shall
apply to any petition filed on or after January 1, 1996.
   (b) The person shall be screened by the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation and the Board of Parole Hearings based on whether
the person has committed a sexually violent predatory offense and on
a review of the person's social, criminal, and institutional history.
This screening shall be conducted in accordance with a structured
screening instrument developed and updated by the State Department of
Mental Health in consultation with the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation. If as a result of this screening it is determined
that the person is likely to be a sexually violent predator, the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall refer the person
to the State Department of Mental Health for a full evaluation of
whether the person meets the criteria in Section 6600.
   (c) The State Department of Mental Health shall evaluate the
person in accordance with a standardized assessment protocol,
developed and updated by the State Department of Mental Health, to
determine whether the person is a sexually violent predator as
defined in this article. The standardized assessment protocol shall
require assessment of diagnosable mental disorders, as well as
various factors known to be associated with the risk of reoffense
among sex offenders. Risk factors to be considered shall include
criminal and psychosexual history, type, degree, and duration of
sexual deviance, and severity of mental disorder.
   (d) Pursuant to subdivision (c), the person shall be evaluated by
two practicing psychiatrists or psychologists, or one practicing
psychiatrist and one practicing psychologist, designated by the
Director of Mental Health. If both evaluators concur that the person
has a diagnosed mental disorder so that he or she is likely to engage
in acts of sexual violence without appropriate treatment and
custody, the Director of Mental Health shall forward a request for a
petition for commitment under Section 6602 to the county designated
in subdivision (i). Copies of the evaluation reports and any other
supporting documents shall be made available to the attorney
designated by the county pursuant to subdivision (i) who may file a
petition for commitment.
   (e) If one of the professionals performing the evaluation pursuant
to subdivision (d) does not concur that the person meets the
criteria specified in subdivision (d), but the other professional
concludes that the person meets those criteria, the Director of
Mental Health shall arrange for further examination of the person by
 one or  two independent professionals selected in
accordance with  subdivision   subdivisions (f)
and  (g).
   (f) If an examination by independent professionals pursuant to
subdivision (e) is conducted,  a   one
independent professional shall evaluate the person to determine if
the person meets the criteria for commitment specified in subdivision
(d). The Director of Mental Health shall arrange for an evaluation
by another independent professional only if the first independent
professional determines that the person meets the criteria. A 
petition to request commitment under this article shall only be filed
if both independent professionals who evaluate the person pursuant
to subdivision (e) concur that the person meets the criteria for
commitment specified in subdivision (d). The professionals selected
to evaluate the person pursuant to subdivision (g) shall inform the
person that the purpose of their examination is not treatment but to
determine if the person meets certain criteria to be involuntarily
committed pursuant to this article. It is not required that the
person appreciate or understand that information.
   (g) Any independent professional who is designated by the
Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or the
Director of Mental Health for purposes of this section shall not be a
state government employee, shall have at least five years of
experience in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders, and
shall include psychiatrists and licensed psychologists who have a
doctoral degree in psychology. The requirements  set forth in
  of  this section also shall apply to any
professionals appointed by the court to evaluate the person for
purposes of any other proceedings under this article.
   (h) If the State Department of Mental Health determines that the
person is a sexually violent predator as defined in this article, the
Director of Mental Health shall forward a request for a petition to
be filed for commitment under this article to the county designated
in subdivision (i). Copies of the evaluation reports and any other
supporting documents shall be made available to the attorney
designated by the county pursuant to subdivision (i) who may file a
petition for commitment in the superior court.
   (i) If the county's designated counsel concurs with the
recommendation, a petition for commitment shall be filed in the
superior court of the county in which the person was convicted of the
offense for which he or she was committed to the jurisdiction of the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The petition shall be
filed, and the proceedings shall be handled, by either the district
attorney or the county counsel of that county. The county board of
supervisors shall designate either the district attorney or the
county counsel to assume responsibility for proceedings under this
article.
   (j) The time limits set forth in this section shall not apply
during the first year that this article is operative.
   (k) An order issued by a judge pursuant to Section 6601.5, finding
that the petition, on its face, supports a finding of probable cause
to believe that the individual named in the petition is likely to
engage in sexually violent predatory criminal behavior upon his or
her release, shall toll that person's parole pursuant to paragraph
(4) of subdivision (a) of Section 3000 of the Penal Code, if that
individual is determined to be a sexually violent predator.
   (l) Pursuant to subdivision (d), the attorney designated by the
county pursuant to subdivision (i) shall notify the State Department
of Mental Health of its decision regarding the filing of a petition
for commitment within 15 days of making that decision.
   (m) This section shall become operative on the date that the
director executes a declaration, which shall be provided to the
fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature, including the
Chairperson of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, and the
Department of Finance, specifying that sufficient qualified state
employees have been hired to conduct the evaluations required
pursuant to subdivision (d), or January 1, 2013, whichever occurs
first.