BILL NUMBER: SB 542 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 1, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 20, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 5, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 14, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Price
FEBRUARY 17, 2011
An act to add Section 5012to amend Section
5006 o f the Penal Code, relating to
inmates the Inmate Welfare Fund .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 542, as amended, Price. Inmates: tattoos.
Inmate Welfare Fund.
Existing law establishes the Inmate Welfare Fund of the Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation in the State Treasury. Existing
law requires that the money in the fund constitutes a trust to be
used for the benefit, education, and welfare of inmates of prisons
and institutions under the jurisdiction of the department, as
specified. Existing law requires the Department of Finance to conduct
a biennial audit of the fund and, at the end of each intervening
fiscal year, to prepare a statement of operations.
Existing law also authorizes the sheriff of each county to
maintain an inmate welfare fund to be kept in the treasury of the
county, as specified. Certain counties have established an inmate
welfare fund commission or inmate welfare fund committee to oversee
the use of these funds.
This bill would require an unspecified percentage of the money in
the Inmate Welfare Fund to be, upon appropriation, transferred
annually to county departments of probation to be utilized for the
coordination of mental health services after an inmate's release from
state custody. The bill would define mental health services, for
purposes of this provision, to include, but not be limited to,
consultation and referral to community mental health providers and
programs, transportation to mental health appointments and treatment
facilities, and transfer of any prescriptions used to treat mental
illness. The bill would require each county department of probation
to prepare a biannual report regarding the use of the funds and to
submit it to the county inmate welfare fund commission or committee,
or to the board of supervisors, or both. By imposing new duties on
county probation departments, the bill would create a state-mandated
local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Existing law provides that the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation has jurisdiction over the health and health care of
inmates.
This bill would require that inmates only receive, remove, or
permit removal of tattoos from themselves or others if it is done in
a manner sanctioned by the warden as specified. The bill would
prohibit inmates from tattooing themselves or permitting themselves
or others to be tattooed with gang-affiliated, racist, anti-Semitic,
or similarly intolerant tattoos. The bill would also make related
findings and declarations.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 5006 of the Penal
Code is amended to read:
5006. (a) All moneys now held for the
benefit of prisoners including that known as the Inmate Canteen Fund
of the California Institution for Men, and the Inmate Welfare Fund of
the California Institution for Women, and the Trust Contingent Fund
of the State Prison at Folsom, and the S.P.L. Commissary, Canteen
Account, Hobby Association, Camp Account, Library Fund, News Agency
of the State Prison at San Quentin, the Prisoners' Fund, and the
Prisoners' Employment Fund, shall be deposited in the Inmate Welfare
Fund of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation ,
in the State Treasury, which fund is hereby created. The
Except as provided in subdivision (b), the money
in the fund shall be used for the benefit, education, and welfare of
inmates of prisons and institutions under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation , including
, but not limited to , the establishment,
maintenance, employment of personnel for, and purchase of items for
sale to inmates at canteens maintained at the state institutions, and
for the establishment, maintenance, employment of personnel ,
and necessary expenses in connection with the operation of the
hobby shops at institutions under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Corrections department .
(b) At least __ percent of the money in the fund shall, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, be transferred annually to county
departments of probation to be utilized for the coordination of
mental health services after an inmate's release from state custody.
For purposes of this subdivision, mental health services shall
include, but shall not be limited to, consultation and referral to
community mental health providers and programs, transportation to
mental health appointments and treatment facilities, and transfer of
any prescriptions used to treat mental illness. Each county
department of probation shall prepare a biannual report of the use of
the funds and submit it to the county inmate welfare fund
commission, or the equivalent entity, or the board of supervisors, or
both.
There
(c) There shall be deposited in
the Inmate Welfare Fund all net proceeds from the operation of
canteens and hobby shops and any moneys which may be assigned to the
state prison by prisoners for deposit in the fund. The moneys in the
fund shall constitute a trust held by the Director of Corrections
and Rehabilitation for the benefit and welfare as herein
defined of all of the inmates and former inmates of
institutions and prisons under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Corrections department .
The
(d) The Department of Finance
shall conduct a biennial audit of the Inmate Welfare Fund to include
an audit report which shall summarize expenditures from the fund by
major categories. At the end of each intervening fiscal year, a
statement of operations shall be prepared which shall contain the
same information as would be provided in the biennial audit. At least
one copy of any statement of operations or audit report shall be
placed in each library maintained by the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation and shall be available there to any
inmate.
SEC. 2. If the Commission on State Mandates
determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs
shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of
Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares
all of the following:
(a) Prisoner-initiated tattoos are widespread in the California
correctional system.
(b) According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there is
an average of 1,240 inmates infected with HIV/AIDS in California's
prisons. The CDC estimates the cost to care for these inmates at over
eighteen million dollars ($18,000,000).
(c) It is estimated that nearly 40 percent of the state's prison
population is infected with hepatitis C, according to a lawsuit filed
in 2008.
(d) Ninety percent of all prisoners are ultimately released from
state prison.
(e) The majority of inmates have sex within the first 24 hours of
their release from state prison.
(f) The average duration of incarceration in California prisons is
just over two years.
(g) Transmission of HIV and Hepatitis C in prison quickly affects
the general population.
(h) It is in the interests of protecting the public health to
acknowledge that tattooing occurs in prison and to take steps to make
prison tattoos safer and less prone to transmission of blood-borne
pathogens.
(i) Acknowledging the behavior that tattooing occurs in prison,
combined with appropriate supervision, will ultimately help to
mitigate dangerous conditions for correctional officers and public
health crises for the communities into which inmates are released.
SEC. 2. Section 5012 is added to the Penal
Code, to read:
5012. (a) Inmates shall only receive, remove, or permit removal
of tattoos from themselves or others if it is done in a manner
sanctioned by the warden and in accordance with all the following:
(1) In a supervised environment that the warden determines does
not compromise the safety of the inmate, other inmates, prison
personnel, or the public at large.
(2) If a qualified medical professional is present and provides
appropriate supervision.
(3) In accordance with the required health and safety standards
outlined in Sections 119308 and 119309 of the Health and Safety Code.
(b) Inmates shall not tattoo themselves or permit themselves or
others to be tattooed with gang-affiliated, racist, anti-Semitic, or
similarly intolerant tattoos.