BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 601
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 5, 2011
Chief Counsel: Gregory Pagan
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
SB 601 (Hancock) - As Amended: June 28, 2011
SUMMARY : Requires the Secretary of the California Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to develop a
Corrections Accountability Report for each institution and to
post it on CDCR's Internet Web site, as specified.
Specifically, this bill :
1)States that the Secretary of the CDCR shall develop a
Corrections Accountability Report for each institution on
January 10, March 15, and a fiscal year-end report and post
the information on CDCR's Internet Web site.
2)Requires CDCR to post both current and previous reports dating
back three years for each institution, and requires CDCR to
post corrections made to inaccurate data to current or
previous reports.
3)Provides that each report shall include the three-year
recidivism rate, a brief biography of the warden including
whether he or she is an acting or permanent warden, and
contact information for the warden, and a brief description of
the prison including the total number of inmates.
4)Requires that each report be created using, when possible,
information collected using the Compstat (computer-assisted
statistics) report for each prison and shall include, but not
be limited to, all of the following:
a) Total budget, including expenditures, staff vacancies,
overtime, sick leave, and number of authorized staff
positions;
b) Rehabilitation programs including capacity, enrollment,
and diploma/GED completion rate;
c) Medical inspection grade;
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d) Average length of lockdowns;
e) Number of deaths specifying homicides, suicides,
unexpected, and expected deaths;
f) Number of use of force incidents;
g) Number of inmate appeals including number being
processed, overdue, and dismissed;
h) Number of inmates in administrative segregation; and,
i) Total contraband seized, specifying number of cell
phones.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Creates in state government, the CDCR, headed by a Secretary
who is appointed by the Governor, subject to Senate
confirmation, and serves at the pleasure of the Governor.
CDCR consists of Adult Operations, Adult Programs, Juvenile
Justice, the Corrections Standards Authority, the Board of
Parole Hearings, the State Commission on Juvenile Justice, the
Prison Industry Authority, and the Prison Industry Board.
ÝGovernment Code Section 12838(a).]
2)Provides that the Governor, upon recommendation of the
Secretary, shall appoint the wardens of the various state
prisons. Each warden shall be subject to removal by the
secretary. If the Secretary removes him or her, the
secretary's action shall be final. The warden shall be exempt
from civil service. ÝPenal Code Section 6050(a).]
3)Authorizes the Inspector General (IG) to conduct a management
review audit of any warden in CDCR or superintendent in the
Division of Juvenile Justice. The management review audit
shall include, but not be limited to, issues relating to
personnel, training, investigations, and financial matters.
Each management review audit shall include an assessment of
the maintenance of the facility managed by the warden or
superintendent. The audit report shall be submitted to the
Secretary of CDCR for evaluation and for any response deemed
necessary. Any Member of the Legislature or the public may
request and shall be provided with a copy of any audit by the
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Inspector General, including a management review audit or a
special audit or review. A report that involves potential
criminal investigations or prosecution or security practices
and procedures shall be considered confidential, and its
disclosure shall not be required under this section. (Penal
Code Section 6051)
4)States that the IG shall audit each warden of an institution
one year after his or her appointment, and shall audit each
correctional institution at least once every four years. Each
audit shall include, but not be limited to, issues relating to
personnel, training, investigations, and financial matters.
Each audit shall include an assessment of the maintenance of
the facility managed by the warden. The audit report shall
include the IG's assessment of facility maintenance. These
audit reports shall be provided to the Legislature and shall
be made public. The requirements of this paragraph shall be
phased in by the IG so that they are fully met by July 1,
2009. ÝPenal Code Section 6126(a)(2).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "California's
correctional system lacks transparency and accountability.
The public as well as the Legislature have no clear way of
accessing information on the effectiveness of management and
services being provided at California's 33 prisons. SB 601
would require the Secretary of CDCR to develop a Corrections
Accountability Report for each prison. The report is intended
to lay a framework for providing better public access to key
information about the performance of California's prison
system. The report would include information such as the
number of use of force incidents, the effectiveness of
rehabilitation programs, the total contraband seized, medical
inspection grade, and the number of inmate appeals. This
information is already collected by the CDCR using Compstat,
short for computer statistics. This measure requires the CDCR
to post the reports on the CDCR website.
"By requiring the Secretary of the CDCR to repackage the data
and post the reports online, the public and the Legislature
could hold the department accountable for the overall
management of the correctional facility, including
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administrative services, expenditures, safety and security,
and program support services."
2)Comstat : Comstat (short for "computer statistics") is an
organizational management tool modeled after the Los Angeles
and the New York Police Departments to monitor and reduce
crimes and is easily accessible to the public. In 2006, the
CDCR designed and implemented Compstat to monitor and provide
operational review of prisons, parole, and CDCR as a whole.
As part of Governor Schwarzenegger's government transparency
efforts in 2009, the Compstat reports were moved from the
CDCR's Web site and made available on the Reporting
Transparency in Government's Web site; however, the Compstate
reports and audits are hard for the public to find and view
among the thicket of reports on that site. In addition, the
Compstat audits and reports are non-descriptive and difficult
to understand. . This bill is intended to make Comstat
information more readily accessible and easier to understand.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
SEIU Local 1000
Friends Committee on Legislation
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744