BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 625
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 2, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Bob Wieckowski, Chair
AB 625 (Quirk) - As Introduced: February 20, 2013
SUBJECT : NOTARIES PUBLIC: ACCEPTANCE OF IDENTIFICATION
KEY ISSUE : SHOULD A NOTARY PUBLIC BE AUTHORIZED TO REASONABLY
RELY ON THE PRESENTATION OF AN INMATE IDENTIFICATION CARD ISSUED
BY THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION ("CDCR") TO
ESTABLISH THE IDENTITY OF THE INMATE DESCRIBED IN AND EXECUTING
A WRITTEN INSTRUMENT?
FISCAL EFFECT : As currently in print this bill is keyed
non-fiscal.
SYNOPSIS
This bill, sponsored by Justice Now, seeks to authorize notaries
public to reasonably rely on the presentation of an inmate
identification card issued by the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR), if the inmate is in custody, to establish
the identity of the inmate described in and executing a written
instrument. According to the sponsor, in California, roughly
195,000 children have a parent in state prison. Eighty percent
of people in women's prisons are mothers. According to the
California Research Bureau, approximately two-thirds of mothers
in prison were the primary care provider for their children
before imprisonment. In order for parents in prison to arrange
temporary guardianship, approve visits for their children, and
take care of a wide range of family matters, access to notary
services is absolutely necessary. All people in prison have the
right to access notary services. Supporters emphasize that this
bill will ensure timely access to valuable notary services,
while incarcerated, by allowing use of a CDCR inmate
identification card. This bill will help incarcerated parents
be able to visit with their children by authorizing notaries
public to reasonably rely on the presentation of an inmate
identification card, which is already issued by the CDCR, if the
inmate is in custody, to establish the identity of the inmate.
The bill will also benefit all state prisoners who must rely
upon notary services.
SUMMARY : Seeks to authorize notaries public to reasonably rely
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on the presentation of an inmate identification card issued by
the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), if the
inmate is in custody, to establish the identity of the inmate
described in and executing a written instrument. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Authorizes a notary public to take acknowledgement of a
written instrument in reasonable reliance upon the
presentation of an inmate identification card issued by the
CDCR, if the inmate is in custody, without requiring the
identification card to be current or have been issued within
the past five years, and without certain additional
identifying information, including a photograph and
description of the person named on it, is signed by the
person, and has a serial or other identifying number.
2)Authorizes a notary public to accept as verification of an
affiant's identity, when executing a jurat and the statement
sworn or subscribed to is contained in a document that
purports to identify the affiant, an inmate identification
card issued by the CDCR, if the inmate is in custody.
3)Makes the following findings and declarations:
a) The state and its counties have a financial and public
safety interest in ensuring the children of people
convicted of felonies and sentenced to state prison time
have access to appropriate schooling and medical treatment.
Eighty percent of imprisoned women are mothers and the
vast majority were the primary care provider of minor
children at the time of their arrest and imprisonment.
These minor children's access to school and medical
treatment may be unnecessarily interrupted should their
incarcerated parent lack timely and affordable access to a
notary necessary for them to complete paperwork to
establish temporary guardianship for their children.
b) The state and its counties have a financial and public
safety interest in ensuring people convicted of felonies
and sentenced to state prison time are able to successfully
reenter their communities upon completion of their
sentences and live a crime-free life. Evidence-based
research demonstrates a clear connection between decreased
recidivism rates and strength of familial bonds during
periods of incarceration. These bonds are weakened when
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minor children are unnecessarily prevented from visiting
incarcerated parents due merely to the incarcerated
parents' lack of timely and affordable access to a notary
public required to complete required visitation forms.
c) The state has taken significant measures to assure due
process and accuracy in determining the identity of people
convicted of felonies and held in control of the Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and in tracking these
individuals' appropriate identity through issuance and
monitoring of state inmate identification cards.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes the proof or acknowledgment of a written instrument
before specified officers of the state, including notaries
public. (Civil Code Sections 1181-1183.)
2)Provides that acknowledgement of a written instrument shall
not be taken unless the officer taking it has satisfactory
evidence that the person making the acknowledgement is the
individual who is described in and who executed the
instrument. (Civil Code Section 1185(a).)
3)Defines "satisfactory evidence" to mean the absence of
information, evidence, or other circumstances that would lead
a reasonable person to believe that the person making the
acknowledgment is not the individual he or she claims to be
and reasonable reliance on the presentation to the officer of
one of several specified documents. (Civil Code Section
1185(b)(3).)
4)Specifies that an inmate identification card that is current
or has been issued within 5 years by the CDCR, if the inmate
is in custody, is an allowable form of identification, for a
credible witness, who, by oath or affirmation, attests to the
identity of an individual executing a written instrument in
the presence of, and acknowledged by, a notary public, if it
contains certain identifying information, including a
photograph and description of the person named on it, is
signed by the person, and has a serial or other identifying
number. (Civil Code Section 1185(b)(4).)
5)Requires a notary public, when executing a jurat, to
administer an oath or affirmation to the affiant to determine,
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from satisfactory evidence as described in Section 1185 of the
Civil Code, that the affiant is the person executing the
document. In addition, the affiant must sign the document in
the presence of the notary. (Gov. Code Section 8202.)
6)Authorizes a notary public to accept as verification of an
affiant's identity, when executing a jurat and the statement
sworn or subscribed to is contained in a document that
purports to identify the affiant, either of the following: a
certified copy of the person's birth certificate or an
identification card or driver's license issued by the
Department of Motor Vehicles. (Gov. Code Section 8230.)
COMMENTS : This bill, sponsored by Justice Now, seeks to
authorize notaries public to reasonably rely on the presentation
of an inmate identification card issued by the CDCR, if the
inmate is in custody, to establish the identity of the inmate
described in and executing a written instrument. According to
the sponsor of the bill, Justice Now, a legal services and human
rights organization that works with people inside California
women's prisons:
In California, roughly 195,000 children have a parent
in state prison. Eighty percent of people in women's
prisons are mothers. According to the California
Research Bureau, approximately two-thirds of mothers
in prison were the primary care provider for their
children before imprisonment. In order for parents in
prison to arrange temporary guardianship, approve
visits for their children, and take care of a wide
range of family matters, access to notary services is
absolutely necessary. All people in prison have the
right to access notary services.
Children of Incarcerated Parents : According to a report
published in 2008 by the CDCR, titled The Master Plan for Female
Offenders, incarcerated women, who are mothers, are less likely
to have a partner on the outside that can help care for and
raise their children. This is in stark contrast to incarcerated
fathers who are more likely to have a partner that can care for
and raise their children. The incarceration of a parent can be
traumatic and life altering for children. Uninterrupted access
to guardianship, school and medical treatment are necessary in
order for a child of an incarcerated parent to retain a sense of
"normalcy" in their lives. Once a parent is incarcerated, these
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arrangements can be legally made through a notary.
According to materials published in 2010 by the American Bar
Association, there is evidence that children who maintain close
ties with their incarcerated parents experience less emotional
distress and exhibit fewer problematic behaviors than children
who do not have contact with their parents. Maintaining contact
with parents has been shown to be particularly beneficial in
cases where the parent had significant presence in the child's
life prior to being incarcerated. (Margolies, Julie Kowitz and
Tamar Kraft-Stolar. When "Free" Means Losing Your Mother: The
Collision of Child Welfare and the Incarceration of Women in New
York State. New York: Women in Prison Project, Correctional
Association of New York, 2006.) Furthermore, maintaining
contact with their children helps the incarcerated parent by
improving the reentry process and reducing recidivism rates,
which would likely benefit the child.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice
Statistics, more than half of mothers and father in state
prisons report having received no in-person visits from their
children since their admission. In addition, parents with
multiple children may receive visits from some children, but not
from others. The sponsor of the bill, Justice Now, illustrates
the above point with the following anecdote:
A mother who was recently transferred from Valley
State Prison for Women ("VSPW") to Central California
Women's Facility ("CCWF") called to inform Justice
Now's lawyers that she was denied a family visit in
January 2013. She was pregnant while imprisoned at
VSPW and gave birth in October 2012. She has not seen
her newborn since he was born. Although her sister
traveled for hours to bring all of the children,
including her newborn, to see their mother, CDCR
denied the visit because the sister failed to provide
the proper notarized paperwork. This mother is
working to obtain paperwork that is in compliance with
CDCR requirements in order to see her children.
However, it is likely that such as visit will not
happen for a few more months.
Inmate Identification Cards : Currently, under Title 15 of the
California Code of Regulations, Section 3019, inmates must carry
on their person any identification or privilege card issued for
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identification purposes. Under the current statutory scheme, an
inmate identification card that is current or issued within the
previous five years by the CDCR if the inmate is in custody is
an allowable form of identification only if it contains certain
identifying information, including a photograph and description
of the person named on it, is signed by the person, and has a
serial or other identifying number. This bill would make an
inmate identification card presumptively an allowable form of
identification, without the additional identifying information,
for a credible witness to prove the identity of an individual
who executes a written instrument.
According to the sponsor, as it currently stands, CDCR issues a
separate form of identification to inmates for notary purposes.
CDCR has taken significant measures to assure due process and
accuracy in determining the identity of people sentenced to
prison. "As such, the process of creating and issuing
additional specialized IDs is costly, unnecessary and delays
access to service. By removing an unnecessary step and
streamlining the process through which people in prison seek
important notary services, this bill will help reduce barriers
to maintaining family bonds as well as save the state money and
resources."
Supporters emphasize that this bill will ensure timely access to
valuable notary services, while incarcerated, by allowing use of
a CDCR inmate identification card. The Legal Services for
Prisoners with Children writes in support of this bill because
allowing notaries to accept an inmate identification card,
issued by the CDCR, as a form of identification will help
incarcerated parents be able to visit their children, stating:
Sometimes, the child of an incarcerated parent is
cared for informally by a relative or friend without
official documentation. The law permits this
arrangement. However, CDCR will not allow such a
child to visit his or her incarcerated parent unless
the incarcerated parent executes a document giving
formal legal custody to someone. This mandatory
document, entitled "Temporary Custody
Arrangement/Power of Attorney", must be notarized.
Until recently, notaries were using the CDCR-issued
inmate [identification] card to establish a prisoner's
identity.
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This card has recently been deemed by the CDCR as not
qualifying as proper identification for notaries.
CDCR is apparently in the process of creating a
notary-acceptable identification card, which it will
charge prisoners for. Not only must prisoners pay for
notary services at $10 per document, they will also
have to pay an [undetermined] amount for an
identification card. Ten dollars is a small fortune
for many prisoners?. This bill will benefit those
incarcerated parents and their minor children for whom
formal legal custody arrangements have not been
established.
This bill will help incarcerated parents visit with their
children by authorizing notaries public to reasonably rely on
the presentation of an inmate identification card, which is
already issued by the CDCR, if the inmate is in custody, to
establish the identity of the inmate described in and executing
the written instrument. This bill will also benefit all state
prisoners who must rely upon notary services.
Prior Related Legislation : AB 2452 (Davis), Chap. 67 (Stats.
2008) added specified governmental employee identification cards
as an allowable form of identification for a credible witness to
prove the identity of an individual who executes a written
instrument.
AB 2420 (McClintock), Chap. 307 (Stats. 1987) included within
the documents that established "satisfactory evidence" an inmate
identification card issued by the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, if the inmate is in custody.
REGISTERED SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:
Support
Justice Now (sponsor)
American Civil Liberties Union of California (ACLU)
California Coalition for Women Prisoners
Get On the Bus
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Women's Foundation for California
Opposition
AB 625
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Drew Liebert and Rebecca Kramer / JUD.
/ (916) 319-2334