BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                          SB 756 (Price)
          
          Hearing Date: 05/26/2011        Amended: 05/10/2011
          Consultant: Jolie Onodera       Policy Vote: Public Safety 6-0
          
















































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          BILL SUMMARY: SB 756 would:
            1)  Provide that if a person fails to register as a sex 
              offender as required, the district attorney in the 
              jurisdiction where the person was to be paroled or on 
              probation may request that a warrant be issued for the 
              person's arrest and shall have the authority to prosecute 
              that person for a registration violation, as specified;
            2)  Provide that if a person required to register as a sex 
              offender is not on parole or probation at the time of 
              release, the district attorney in a jurisdiction, as 
              specified, shall have the authority to prosecute;
            3)  Require persons subject to registering as a sex offender, 
              if requested while at a residence, to present proof of 
              current residence upon request by a law enforcement agency, 
              and would provide that a violation of this requirement is a 
              misdemeanor.
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                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2011-12      2012-13       2013-14     Fund
           
          New prosecutions/      Unknown; potentially 
          significantGeneral/Local
          incarcerations         state/local incarceration costs in the
                                 hundreds of thousands of dollars

          New misdemeanor        Unknown; non-reimbursable local 
          costsLocal
                                 for enforcement and incarceration offset
                                 to a degree by fine revenue      
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          STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE. 

          Current law requires persons convicted of certain sex-related 
          offenses to register within five working days of coming into a 
          city or county, with specified law enforcement officials in the 
          city or county where he or she is residing, and imposes criminal 
          penalties, misdemeanors or felonies, generally depending upon 
          the underlying offense, for persons who violate registration 
          requirements. 









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          This bill would clarify jurisdiction for prosecuting a sex 
          offender who was not on parole or probation at the time of 
          release for failing to register, whether in the jurisdiction in 
          which the person last registered, in the jurisdiction where the 
          person intends to reside, or in the jurisdiction where the 
          offense was committed. This clarification of jurisdiction for 
          prosecuting offenders not on parole or probation at the time of 
          release is not estimated to result in increased costs that would 
          otherwise have been incurred under existing law.

          This bill also would also expressly authorize the district 
          attorney in the jurisdiction where a sex offender was to be 
          paroled or on probation to request that a warrant be issued for 
          the offender's arrest and shall have the authority to prosecute 
          that person for a registration violation. Existing law generally 
          provides that an inmate who is released on parole shall be 
          returned to the county that was the last legal residence of the 
          inmate prior to his or her incarceration. 

          If a parolee who has never registered in any jurisdiction 
          absconds after release from custody, current law does not 
          provide for the issuance of a warrant for the offender's arrest 
          and prosecution in any particular jurisdiction. By authorizing 
          the issuance of a warrant for an offender's arrest in another 
          jurisdiction could result in additional prosecutions for 
          registration violations that would not otherwise have occurred. 
          To the extent additional prosecutions lead to re-incarceration 
          will result in additional state and local costs. The cost of 
          re-incarceration due to a parole violation could result in state 
          costs of $45,000 per offender for the initial year of 
          re-incarceration due to intake costs for a risk assessment and a 
          medical evaluation. There are approximately 3,000 new sex 
          offenders released from state prison per year. It is unknown how 
          many offenders would be prosecuted and re-incarcerated, but if 
          less than  a percent (10 sex offenders) were to abscond from 
          registration and be successfully prosecuted, additional costs of 
          $450,000 could result in a single year.

          The bill finally would require that a person, if requested while 
          at a residence, shall present proof of residence upon request by 
          a law enforcement agency investigating compliance with the 
          requirements of the Sex Offender Registration Act. Violation of 
          this requirement would be a misdemeanor. Creation of a new crime 
          will result in non-reimbursable mandated local law enforcement 








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          costs offset to a degree by fine revenue.