BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 26 (Padilla)
          As Amended  August 31, 2011
          2/3 vote.  Urgency

           SENATE VOTE  :39-0  
           
           PUBLIC SAFETY       7-0         APPROPRIATIONS      17-0        
           
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          |Ayes:|Ammiano, Knight, Cedillo, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey,          |
          |     |Hagman, Hill, Mitchell,   |     |Blumenfield, Bradford,    |
          |     |Skinner                   |     |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
          |     |                          |     |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto,   |
          |     |                          |     |Hall, Hill, Lara,         |
          |     |                          |     |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, |
          |     |                          |     |Solorio, Wagner           |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 

           SUMMARY  :  Provides that a person who possesses with the intent 
          to deliver, or delivers, to an inmate or ward in the custody of 
          the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) any 
          cellular telephone or other wireless communication device or any 
          component thereof, including, but not limited to, subscriber 
          identity module (SIM) cards and memory storage devices, is 
          guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in the 
          county jail not exceeding 6 months, or a fine not to exceed 
          $5,000 for each device, or both.  Specifically,  this bill  :

          1)Provides that a person who is visiting an inmate or ward under 
            the jurisdiction of CDCR who is found to be in possession of a 
            cellular telephone, wireless communication device, or any 
            component thereof, as specified, upon being searched or 
            subjected to a metal detector, shall be subject to having that 
            device confiscated and returned the same day the person visits 
            the inmate or ward, except as specified.

          2)States that if, upon investigation, it is determined that no 
            prosecution will take place, the cellular telephone or other 
            wireless communication device or any component thereof shall 
            be returned to the owner at the owner's expense.

          3)Requires notice of the above confiscation provisions to be 
            posted in all areas where visitors are searched prior to 








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            visitation with an inmate or ward in the custody of the 
            department.

          4)Provides that any inmate who is found to be in possession of a 
            wireless communication device shall be subject to time credit 
            denial or loss of up to 90 days.

          5)States that a person who brings, without authorization, a 
            wireless communication device within the secure perimeter of 
            any prison or institution housing offenders under the 
            jurisdiction of CDCR is deemed to have given his or her 
            consent to CDCR using available technology to prevent that 
            wireless device from sending or receiving telephone calls or 
            other forms of electronic communication.  Notice of this 
            provision shall be posted at all public entry gates of the 
            prison.

          6)Requires CDCR to obtain a search warrant before accessing any 
            data or communications that have been captured using available 
            technology from unauthorized use of a wireless communication 
            device.

          7)Prohibits CDCR from capturing data or communications or 
            accessing data or communications that have been captured using 
            available technology from an authorized wireless communication 
            device, except as already authorized under existing law.

          8)States that if the available technology to prevent wireless 
            communications from sending and receiving telephone calls or 
            other forms of electronic communication extends beyond the 
            secure perimeter of the prison or institution, the CDCR shall 
            take all reasonable actions to correct the problem.

          9)Provides that any contractor or employee of a contractor or 
            CDCR who knowingly and willfully, without authorization, 
            obtains, discloses, or uses confidential information in 
            violation of the above provisions shall be subject to an 
            administrative fine or civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 for 
            a first violation, or $10,000 for a second violation, or 
            $25,000 for a third or subsequent violation.

          10)Provides that the state shall require, until January 1, 2018, 
            as part of the contract for the Inmate Ward Telephone System 
            that the total cost for intrastate and interstate calls be 








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            equal to or less than the total costs of a call established in 
            the contract in effect on September 1, 2011.  Other than the 
            conversation minute charges and prepaid account setup fees, 
            there shall be no additional charges of any type, including 
            administrative fees, call-setup fees, detail billing fees, 
            hard copy billing fees, or any other fees.

          11)Adds an urgency clause.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations 
          Committee:

          1)Major one-time costs of about $1 million per prison ($33 
            million) for implementation of the managed access system.  
            These costs, however, will be covered by new revenues as the 
            cost of the system is being built into the new inmate 
            telephone system contract, which pays the contractor based on 
            inmate call volume.  Ongoing maintenance costs will also be 
            covered by the new contract.  (The contract process is 
            underway; CDCR expects to select and sign a new contractor in 
            February 2012.)

          CDCR's rationale is that significantly reducing, if not 
            eliminating, inmate access to illegal cell phones and wireless 
            devices will dramatically increase use of the inmate telephone 
            system, thereby allowing the contractor's profits to increase 
            sufficiently to provide managed access at no new cost to the 
            state and with no increase to inmate phone charges, which 
            range from about 50 cents to $6.50 for a 15 minute phone call. 


          Because the length of the contract will be at least six years, 
            the contractor should have time to recoup its managed access 
            costs.  For the past two years the inmate call system has 
            created revenues of about $30 million for the current 
            contractor. 

          2)Significant annual General Fund (GF) costs, potentially in the 
            range of $2 million, for longer prison terms as a result of 
            credit forfeiture. 

          This bill specifies any inmate who possesses a cell phone may 
            lose up to 90 days of credit.  Current law specifies up to 30 
            days of sentence credit may be forfeited for a single 








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            disciplinary offense as defined by CDCR.  According to the 
            Office of the Inspector General, in 2006, correctional 
            officers seized 261 cell phones.  In 2008, the number 
            increased to 2,811.  In 2011, CDCR is on pace to seize about 
            15,000 cell phones.  Many of these phones were taken from 
            staff and visitors; others were discovered on the grounds.  If 
            managed access reduces the current annual seizure pace by 50%, 
            if 25% of the phones seized are from inmates, and if 25% of 
            those seizures result in an additional two months in prison, 
            the annualized GF cost would be about $2 million, based on 
            overcrowding costs. 

          3)Unknown nonreimbursable local law enforcement and 
            incarceration costs to the extent correctional staff and/or 
            others are convicted of trafficking cell phones in state 
            prisons.  For example, if 33 persons served six months in 
            county jail, local incarceration costs would be in the range 
            of $600,000, offset to a degree by increased fine revenue.

          4)In addition, to the extent that a person convicted of 
            misdemeanor cell phone trafficking was on parole or probation, 
            and is revoked to state prison as a result, state GF prison 
            costs would increase.  For example, if six persons were 
            revoked to state prison as a result of this bill, annual costs 
            would be in the range of $100,000.

           COMMENTS  :  According to the author, "Smuggled cell phones in our 
          State prison system are a growing and dangerous problem.  
          Inmates with access to cell phones have been ordering murders, 
          organizing escapes, facilitating drug deals, controlling street 
          gangs, and terrorizing rape victims.  In 2006 the number of 
          phones confiscated was 261.  Last year it reached 11,000.  This 
          year we are on pace to exceed 13,000.  43 states and the federal 
          government have taken action to tackle this problem in their 
          prisons.  Yet California which has the biggest problem has 
          failed to act year after year."

          Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion 
          of this bill.
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 
                                                                FN: 0002295









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