BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 601 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 601 (Hancock) As Amended June 28, 2011 Majority vote SENATE VOTE :25-13 PUBLIC SAFETY 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Ammiano, Knight, Cedillo, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, | | |Hagman, Hill, Mitchell, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, | | |Skinner | |Charles Calderon, Campos, | | | | |Davis, Donnelly, | | | | |Dickinson, Hall, Hill, | | | | |Lara, Nielsen, Norby, | | | | |Solorio, Wagner | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 SB 601 Page 2 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; 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. 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. 3)Authorizes the Inspector General (IG) to conduct a management SB 601 Page 3 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 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. 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. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, absorbable costs to CDCR as this information is currently available and needs only to be shifted from the Governor's transparency Web site to CDCR's Web site. COMMENTS : 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 SB 601 Page 4 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 administrative services, expenditures, safety and security, and program support services." Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of this bill. Analysis Prepared by : Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN: 0001769