BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1907 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 2, 2012 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair AB 1907 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: April 9, 2012 Policy Committee: Public Safety Vote: 5-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: Yes Reimbursable: Yes SUMMARY This bill makes a series of relatively minor procedural changes to the existing process for involuntary administration of psychiatric medication to state prison inmates, and applies the entire process to inmates sentenced to county jail under correctional realignment. Changes to the existing California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) process: 1)Clarify that if an inmate is involuntarily medicated on an emergency basis, the inmate must receive an expedited hearing and expedited access to counsel. 2)Delete the requirement that emergency involuntarily medication last only five days unless an ALJ authorizes continuing medication, and instead requires, if CDCR clinicians identify a situation that jeopardizes the inmate's health and requires continued emergency medication, CDCR must provide notice, as specified, to the inmate and counsel of its intention to seek an ex parte order to continue emergency medication pending the full hearing. 3)Specify once CDCR has requested an ex parte order for emergency involuntary medication of an inmate of CDCR, that inmate and his or her counsel have two business days to respond to the request and may present facts supported by an affidavit in opposition to the request. 4)Require an order to renew an existing involuntary medication order be granted based on clear and convincing evidence the AB 1907 Page 2 inmate has a serious mental disorder that requires psychiatric medication treatment. 5)Require, if CDCR wishes to add a basis to an existing order, advance notice to inmate and counsel, specifying and qualifying the basis. This additional basis must be proved by clear and convincing evidence at hearing. 6)Require CDCR to adopt regulations to fully implement this section. 7)Replace references to psychotropic medications with psychiatric medications. FISCAL EFFECT 1)Unknown, likely minor net state costs/savings as a result of procedural changes. 2)Unknown, potential moderate county jail savings as a result of using the existing CDCR procedures. CDCR last year estimated potential savings in the $2 million range from the chaptered 2011 bill (AB 1114, Lowenthal) that established this process for CDCFR, primarily as a result of extending the renewal interval for many involuntary medication cases from 180 days to 365 days. 3)Though there is no known opposition to this bill by counties, and though it may actually lead to a net savings, the bill does create a state mandate, and could therefore lead to a determination from the Commission on State Mandates requiring the state to reimburse counties for this process - a process many counties appear to be following in large part now. COMMENTS Rationale . This bill extends the recently adopted process for involuntary psychiatric medication of state inmates to county jail inmates sentenced pursuant to county jail realignment. This bill is a follow-up to the author's AB 1114 (Statutes of 2011), which created, as an alternative to the process specified in 1986 by Keyhea v. Rushen , procedural requirements for involuntary administration of psychotropic medication to state prison inmates that eliminate the certification review hearing AB 1907 Page 3 under Keyhea, while safeguarding due process protections for inmates contesting involuntary medication. As noted in the Assembly Public Safety Committee analysis, the Keyhea court held that equal protection required that prisoners subject to involuntary psychotropic medication be afforded the same rights as non-prisoners. At the time of the Keyhea decision, however, there were no statutes defining the rights of non-prisoners subject to involuntary medication. Therefore, the court adopted procedures to be used when a court civilly commits a person as gravely disabled or a danger to self or others. These procedures include a stringent set of reviews and hearings depending on the length of the commitment sought. AB 1114 codified much of the Keyhea process with some exceptions. The most significant differences are (a) the bill shortens the process to ensure that an inmate has a hearing before an ALJ to discontinue involuntary medication, (b) extends the duration for involuntary medication to 365 days for all orders, whereas under Keyhea, the authorization for an inmate determined to be a threat to self or others is 180 days, and 365 days for an inmate considered gravely disabled. For purposes of context, in 2010 CDCR sought 1,035 involuntary medication renewals at six months for persons considered a danger to self or others. Only 17 of these were not renewed for a full year. Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081