BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 535 (Quirk) - Emergency Alert System.
Amended: April 10, 2013 Policy Vote: Public Safety 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: June 24, 2013
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 535 would specify that for purposes of
activating the Emergency Alert System (EAS), an abductor may
include a custodial parent or guardian where the abducted child
is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death.
Fiscal Impact: Potential annual costs in the range of $45,000 to
$90,000 (Special Fund*) to the extent the provisions of this
bill result in additional AMBER alerts. As the provisions of
this bill essentially clarify current practice, additional costs
are not estimated to be significant.
*Motor Vehicle Account
Background: Current law provides that if an abduction has been
reported to a law enforcement agency and the agency determines
that a child 17 years of age or younger, or an individual with a
proven mental or physical disability, has been abducted and is
in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death, and there
is information that, if disseminated to the general public,
could assist in the safe recovery of the victim, the agency,
through a person authorized to activate the EAS, shall, absent
extenuating investigative needs, request activation of the EAS
within the appropriate local area. Law enforcement agencies
shall only request activation of the EAS for an abduction if
these requirements are met (Government Code § 8594(a)).
In California, AMBER (America's Missing Broadcast Emergency
Response) alerts are administered by the California Highway
Patrol (CHP). In conjunction with criteria established by the
Department of Justice, alerts are issued subject to the criteria
noted above. Since 2002, the CHP has activated 205 alerts,
AB 535 (Quirk)
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resulting in the safe return of 244 victims.
As noted in the Assembly Committee on Public Safety analysis of
this measure, there have been at least two cases where AMBER
alerts have not been issued for children believed to be at risk
after being taken by a parent with legal custody. In 2005,
relatives contacted local authorities with serious concerns
about a mother and her five-year old daughter. Ultimately, the
mother and daughter were found dead in the mother's car in an
apparent murder-suicide. Although sought by local authorities,
no AMBER alert was issued in the case. The CHP determined that
because the mother had sole custody of her daughter, an
abduction could not have occurred for purposes of issuing an
AMBER alert.
Proposed Law: This bill provides that, for purposes of
activation of the EAS, an abductor may include a custodial
parent or guardian where the abducted child is in imminent
danger of serious bodily injury or death.
Related Legislation: AB 415 (Runner) Chapter 517/2002 required
law enforcement agencies to use the EAS and issue an AMBER alert
to assist recovery efforts in child abduction cases by
disseminating information to the general public.
Staff Comments: The provisions of this bill are not estimated to
have a significant fiscal impact on existing CHP operations. To
the extent the clarification of existing law results in the
activation of one or two additional AMBER alerts per year,
annual costs are estimated in the range of $45,000 to $90,000
(Motor Vehicle Account). However, as the provisions of this bill
essentially clarify current practice, ongoing costs are not
estimated to be significant.