BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                          SB 490 (Hancock)
          
          Hearing Date: 05/23/2011        Amended: 05/10/2011
          Consultant: Jolie Onodera       Policy Vote: Public Safety 6-0
          
















































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          BILL SUMMARY: SB 490 would restructure the Office of Inspector 
          General (OIG), narrow its duties and responsibilities, and 
          rename the OIG as the Office of Independent Correctional 
          Oversight (OICO). Specifically, this bill would:
             1)   Remove the Inspector General and other prospective 
               employees from peace officer status but instead provide 
               them with non-peace officer authority relating to powers of 
               arrest, serving warrants, and access to criminal history 
               information, as specified ;
             2)   Require the Governor to appoint a director for the OICO;
             3)   Continue the purpose and duties of the OIG Bureau of 
               Independent Review through the OICO, including oversight 
               reviews pertaining to specified correctional issues;
             4)   Require the OICO to continue the OIG function of 
               conducting inspections to periodically review delivery of 
               medical care at each state prison;
             5)   Revise the existing misdemeanor for a person assisting 
               in any OIG audit or investigation to divulge information to 
               reflect the succession to the OICO director;
             6)   Deletes obsolete provisions and makes conforming 
               changes.
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                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2011-12      2012-13       2013-14     Fund
           
          Narrowing of OIG       Unknown; significant savings of $2,000 
          General
          duties                 to $4,000 annually; or cost of 
                                 over $2,000 if May Revision proposal
                                 to reduce OIG workload is adopted

          Removal of peace officer          Unknown; potential future cost 
          savings                General
          status                 of $16 per position
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          STAFF COMMENTS: This bill may meet the criteria for referral to 
          the Suspense File.

          Under existing law, the independent OIG is charged with 
          specified duties concerning the Department of Corrections and 








          SB 490 (Hancock)
          Page 3 

          Rehabilitation (CDCR), including but not limited to reviewing 
          CDCR policies and procedures, conducting audits of investigatory 
          practices and other audits, being responsible for 
          contemporaneous oversight of internal affairs investigations and 
          the disciplinary process, and conducting investigations of the 
          CDCR, as requested by either the Secretary of the CDCR or a 
          Member of the Legislature. The Inspector General may also 
          initiate an investigation or an audit on his or her own accord.


          This bill would restructure the OIG's functions and would rename 
          it to the Office of Independent Correctional Oversight (OICO). 
          This bill would refocus the operations of the OIG by doing the 
          following: 1) replacing the Inspector General with a director, 
          appointed by the Governor, subject to Senate confirmation with a 
          term reduced from 6 to 4 years; 2) distilling the duties of the 
          office to the following current Bureau of Independent Review 
          functions, warden vetting; and the California Rehabilitation 
          Oversight Board (C-ROB); 3) continuing the medical inspection 
          program to periodically review delivery of medical care at each 
          state prison; and, 4) focusing discretionary oversight review to 
          the following five categories:
                               Security procedures, including contraband 
                      interdiction
                               Inmate, ward, and parolee administrative 
                      appeals and grievances
                               Prison Rape Elimination Act procedures
                               Inmate-patient health care delivery
                               Fiscal controls for contracts and grants

          Staff notes as part of the Governor's May Revision released on 
          May 16, 2011, the Administration proposes to reduce state 
          operations by eliminations consolidations, reductions, and 
          efficiencies. Specifically, a savings of $6.4 million General 
          Fund in 2011-12 is estimated due to a proposal to eliminate all 
          OIG workload except performing use-of-force and employee 
          discipline oversight for the CDCR. The proposed workload 
          reduction includes the elimination of the C-ROB and would also 
          achieve savings related to the transfer of the performance of 
          medical inspections from the OIG to the Office of State Audits 
          and Evaluations. The provisions of this bill do not reduce 
          workload to the extent proposed in the May Revision, as the 
          C-ROB and medical inspection functions would remain with the 
          newly created OICO. If the May Revision proposal is not adopted, 
          annual savings under the provisions of this bill are estimated 








          SB 490 (Hancock)
          Page 4 

          to be significant in the amount of $2 million to $4 million, 
          depending on the scope and complexity of oversight reviews still 
          under the OICO's purview. Should the May Revision proposal be 
          adopted, however, the provisions of this bill would result in 
          significant costs potentially in excess of $2 million.

          This bill would repeal the provisions in existing law making OIG 
          personnel peace officers. Instead, this bill would amend 
          existing law to give them arrest and search warrant authority, 
          and access to summary criminal history information, as 
          specified. Budget trailer bill SB 78 (Committee on Budget and 
          Fiscal Review) 2011 included in the state peace officer 
          classification employees of the OIG who were hired as peace 
          officers prior to April 1, 2011. This bill does not affect these 
          grandfathering provisions. SB 78 bill also allowed continued 
          peace officer status for OIG employees designated by the 
          Inspector General whose primary duty would be conducting 
          investigations. This bill would chapter out this provision, 
          thereby eliminating any statutory authority for peace officer 
          status for these positions, resulting in potential future annual 
          cost savings of approximately $16,000 per position (the 
          difference in annual salary, benefits, and special pay of 
          $121,000 for a peace officer deputy inspector general vs. a 
          non-peace office deputy inspector general cost of $105,000).