BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1144
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Date of Hearing: June 26, 2012
Counsel: Stella Choe
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
SB 1144 (Strickland) - As Amended: June 20, 2012
SUMMARY : Makes technical and corrective changes, as well as
non-controversial substantive changes, to various code sections
relating to criminal justice laws. Specifically, this bill :
1)Strikes out references to the Department of Justice's (DOJ)
"Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement," Bureau of Forensic
Services," and "Bureau of Investigations" and replaces those
references with the "Department of Justice".
2)Strike out references to the "Department of Health Services"
and replaces those references with the "Department of Public
Health".
3)Removes specified offenses that may only be filed as
infractions from the list of misdemeanors that may also be
filed as an infraction.
4)Provides in cases where an employer who willfully fails to pay
the final court judgment or final order issued by the Labor
Commission for all wages due an employee, if the amount due is
$1,000 or less the fine shall be not less than $1,000 and not
more than $10,000 for each offense.
5)Provides in cases where a peace officer makes an arrest for a
crime related to domestic violence, the peace officer is not
required to inform a victim that he or she has a right to make
a citizen's arrest.
6)Removes the requirement that DOJ, by January 1, 2013, make
available to the public via the Internet Web site, information
on an elevated risk level based on the SARATSO future violence
tool for persons convicted of specified sex offenses.
7)Defines "agency" for purposes of a grand juror's recusal from
a civil grand jury based on employment with the agency that is
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under investigation.
8)Adds references to "postrelease community supervision" and
"mandatory supervision" to incorporate the new types of
supervision implemented by realignment.
9)Makes technical corrections and conforming changes to various
other code sections.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides that an employer who willfully fails to pay the final
court judgment or final order issued by the Labor Commission
for wages due to an employee is guilty of a misdemeanor. If
the total amount of wages due is less than $1,000 the employer
shall be fined not less than $1,000 and not more than $10,000,
or imprisoned in a county jail for not more than six months,
for each offense. If the wages due are more than $1,000, the
fine shall be between $10,000 and $20,000, or imprisoned in a
county jail for not less than six months, nor more than one
year, or both the fine and imprisonment, for each offense .
ÝLabor Code Section 1197.2(a).]
2)Requires law enforcement responding to a domestic violence
call to make a good faith effort to inform the victim of his
or her right to make a citizen's arrest, including information
advising the victim on how to safely execute the arrest.
ÝPenal Code Section 835(b).]
3)Requires DOJ, on or before January 1, 2013, with respect to a
person who has been convicted of the commission or the
attempted commission of any of the specified sex offenses, to
make available to the public via the Internet Web site his or
her static SARATSO score and information on an elevated risk
level based on the SARATSO future violence tool. ÝPenal Code
Section 290.46(b)(2).]
4)Provides that a violation of any code section listed in Penal
Code Section 19.8 is an infraction, subject to the procedures
described, when:
a) The prosecutor files a complaint charging the offense as
an infraction unless the defendant, at the time he or she
is arraigned, after being informed of his or her rights,
elects to have the case proceed as a misdemeanor, or
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b) The court, with the consent of the defendant, determines
that the offense is an infraction in which event the case
shall proceed as if the defendant had been arraigned on an
infraction complaint. ÝPenal Code Section 17(d).]
5)States that it is an infraction for any person to perform or
offer to perform body piercing upon a person under the age of
18 years, unless the body piercing is performed in the
presence of, or as directed by a notarized writing by, the
person's parent or guardian. ÝPenal Code Section 652(a).]
6)States that it is an infraction for any person under the age
of 21 years to attempt to purchase any alcoholic beverage from
a licensee, or the licensee's agent or employee and shall be
punishable by a fine of not more than $250, or the person
shall be required to perform not less than 24 hours or more
than 32 hours of community service during hours when the
person is not employed or is not attending school, or a
combination of fine and community service as determined by the
court. A second or subsequent violation of this section shall
be punished by a fine of not more than $500, or the person
shall be required to perform not less than 36 hours or more
than 48 hours of community service during hours when the
person is not employed or is not attending school, or a
combination of fine and community service, as the court deems
just. ÝBusiness and Profession Code Section 25658.5(a).]
7)Provides, notwithstanding any other provision of law, a grand
juror who is a current employee of, or a former or retired
employee last employed within the prior three years by, an
agency within the investigative jurisdiction of the civil
grand jury shall inform the foreperson and court of that fact
and shall recuse himself or herself from participating in any
grand jury civil investigation of that agency, including any
discussion or vote concerning a civil investigation of that
agency. ÝPenal Code Section 916.2(a).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "SB 1144 is the
annual public safety omnibus bill. It makes technical and
minor changes to the law affecting public safety. There is no
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opposition by any member of the Legislature or recognized
group to any of the proposals."
2)Failure to Pay Owed Wages of $1,000 in Labor Code Section
1197.2 : AB 469 (Swanson), Chapter 655, Statutes of 2011,
among other things created the new misdemeanor crime of
willful failure to pay a final wage order or court judgment.
While the statute delineates penalties for violations
involving wages due of less than or more than $1,000, statute
fails to specify what the penalty is if the amount of wages
due is exactly $1,000. This bill corrects that by specifying
the fine for wages due of $1,000 or less.
3)Arrests for Domestic Violence Offenses : Existing law requires
law enforcement to inform victims of their right to make a
citizen's arrest. Many law enforcement agencies have a policy
requiring arrest in domestic violence cases when probable
cause exists. This bill provides that if an arrest is
actually made, there is no requirement that a person be
informed of their right to make a citizen's arrest.
4)DOJ Funding : In a number of places, existing law references
the "Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, Bureau of Forensic
Services", and "Bureau of Investigations" within the DOJ. Due
to General Fund budgetary cuts terminating funds allocated to
the DOJ, the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, Bureau of
Forensic Services, and Bureau of Investigations no longer
exist. This bill replaces these references with references to
the DOJ.
5)Posting SARATSO Score on the Internet : According to DOJ, "As
part of AB 1844 in 2010, there is a requirement in the bill
that DOJ would post online, starting in 2013, the Static-99
risk scores and the violence risk scores of sex offenders who
are posted on the Megan's Law website. . . . ÝI]n 2011, we
chose a violence risk tool that has 43 factors on it - and
only 13 factors are static, 30 are dynamic. That means the
violence score will be changing as dynamic factors pertaining
to the offender change. Which means posting the score online
is a bad idea because it can change. Ergo, the potential for
meritorious challenges is quite high."
6)Grand Juror Recusal : AB 1133 (Silva), Chapter 184, Statutes
of 2011, provides that any grand juror who, in the past three
years, was or is employed by or retired from the same agency
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that he or she is investigating on a civil grand jury must
recuse himself or herself from that investigation. The author
of the bill reports that there have been several voices in the
"grand juror community" requesting a definition of "agency"
for these purposes. Some are concerned that agency is being
defined too broadly by prosecutors and jurors.
7)Previous Legislation :
a) SB 428 (Strickland), Chapter 304, Statutes of 2011, was
the annual 2011 Public Safety Committee's omnibus bill.
b) SB 1062 (Strickland), Chapter 708, Statutes of 2010, was
the annual 2010 Public Safety Committee's omnibus bill.
c) SB 174 (Strickland), Chapter 35, Statutes of 2009, was
the annual 2009 Public Safety Committee's omnibus bill.
d) SB 1241 (Margett), Chapter 699, Statutes of 2008, was
the annual 2008 Public Safety Committee's omnibus bill.
e) SB 425 (Margett), Chapter 302, Statutes of 2007, was the
annual 2007 Public Safety Committee's omnibus bill.
f) SB 1422 (Margett), Chapter 901, Statutes of 2006, was
the annual 2006 Public Safety Committee's omnibus bill.
g) SB 1107 (Senate Committee on Public Safety), Chapter
279, Statutes of 2005, was the annual 2005 Public Safety
Committee's omnibus bill.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California District Attorneys Association (Sponsor)
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
SB 1144
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