BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 2094|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                         |
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 2094
          Author:   Butler (D)
          Amended:  7/2/12 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE  :  6-0, 6/12/12
          AYES:  Hancock, Anderson, Harman, Liu, Price, Steinberg
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Calderon
           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  74-0, 5/10/12 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Domestic violence:  mandatory minimum probation 
          fine

           SOURCE  :     California Partnership to End Domestic Violence


           DIGEST  :    This bill increases, from $400 to $500, the fee 
          imposed on persons granted probation for a domestic 
          violence offense, as specified; and requires a court to 
          state its reasons for reducing or waiving this fee on the 
          record.

           Senate Floor Amendments  of 7/2/12 make non-substantive 
          double-joining amendments with AB 1165 (Achadjian).

           ANALYSIS  :    Under existing law, if a person is granted 
          probation for a domestic violence crime, as specified, the 
          terms of probation shall include all of the following:

          1. A minimum period of probation of 36 months, which may 
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             include a period of summary probation as appropriate.

          2. A criminal court protective order protecting the victim 
             from further acts of violence, threats, stalking, sexual 
             abuse, and harassment, and, if appropriate, containing 
             residence exclusion or stay-away conditions.

          3. Notice to the victim of the disposition of the case.

          4. Booking the defendant within one week of sentencing if 
             the defendant has not already been booked.

          5. A minimum payment by the defendant of $400 to be 
             disbursed as specified.  If, after a hearing in court on 
             the record, the court finds that the defendant does not 
             have the ability to pay, the court may reduce or waive 
             this fee.  (Penal Code Section 1203.097(a))

          This bill increases the minimum fine from $400 to $500.

          This bill additionally requires a court to state the reason 
          for exercising its discretion to reduce or waive this fee 
          on the record.

           Comments
           
           Pending Audit  .  Domestic violence fees currently are the 
          subject of an audit being performed by the Bureau of State 
          Audits.  Due in August of this year, the audit will include 
          the following:

          1. Review and evaluate the laws, rules, and regulations 
             significant to the audit objectives.

          2. For a sample of four counties, to the extent possible, 
             obtain the following information regarding their 
             domestic violence program's special fund for each year 
             in the most recent four-year period:

             A.             Total amount of fee revenue collected.

             B.             Determine whether revenue from fees 
                collected from individuals granted probation for 
                crimes of domestic violence (Penal Code Section 

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                1203.097(a)) are separately tracked for accounting 
                purposes.

             C.             Beginning and ending balances of the 
                account and the fund.

             D.             Amount of fee revenue transferred to 
                domestic violence programs.  Identify recipients of 
                this funding that are not domestic violence programs, 
                if any.

             E.             The number of individuals served by the 
                shelters receiving funding from the probation fee.

             F.             Determine how long the counties are 
                holding these funds before transferring them to the 
                shelters.

             G.    Determine if the counties' use of these funds 
                complies with statutory requirements.

          3. For a sample of courts in the counties selected, assess 
             the extent to which each court has an adequate process 
             for handling the domestic violence probation fees by 
             determining the following for each year in the most 
             recent four-year period:

             A.             Whether the counties receive all 
                necessary information related to the fees from the 
                courts.

             B.             The frequency of complete fee payments by 
                probationers.

             C.             The extent to which mechanisms exist to 
                enforce payment of the fee and the effectiveness of 
                those mechanisms.

             D.             The extent to which the courts are 
                completely and accurately remitting the fees paid.

             E.    How long the courts are holding these funds before 
                transferring them to the counties.


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          4. Review and assess any other issues that are significant 
             to domestic violence probation fees.

           Prior legislation  .  AB 2011 (Arambula), Chapter 132, 
          Statutes of 2010, passed the Senate Floor (34-0) on July 1, 
          2010.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  7/2/12)

          California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (source)
          AFSCME, AFL-CIO
          California Communities United Institute

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    The author states, "This bill 
          would raise the minimum fee of the domestic violence 
          service provider's fund from $400 to $500.  This bill will 
          continue to allow the courts discretion on assessing, 
          reducing and waiving of the domestic violence fee if the 
          defendant is unable to pay.  If the fee is reduced or 
          waived, the judge will state on the record their reasoning 
          for making that decision."


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  74-0, 5/10/12
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, 
            Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, 
            Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, 
            Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Davis, Dickinson, 
            Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Beth Gaines, 
            Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, 
            Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, 
            Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie 
            Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, 
            Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Pan, Perea, 
            Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, 
            Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, 
            John A. Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Cook, Fletcher, Furutani, Jeffries, 
            Olsen, V. Manuel Pérez



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          RJG:k  7/3/12   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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