BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 601
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 601 (Hancock)
As Amended September 2, 2011
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :25-13
PUBLIC SAFETY 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
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|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 |
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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
statewide 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,
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information collected using the Compstat (computer-assisted
statistics) report for each prison, or other verifiable
information collected by CDCR, 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;
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.
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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
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
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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 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: 0002629