BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        AB 934|
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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 934
          Author:   Cooley (D)
          Amended:  8/21/13 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE  :  6-0, 6/12/13
          AYES:  Wolk, Knight, Beall, DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Liu
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Hernandez

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  70-0, 5/16/13 (Consent) - See last page for  
            vote


           SUBJECT  :    Local agencies:  unclaimed money

           SOURCE  :     Los Angeles County District Attorney


           DIGEST :    This bill requires a local agency to document that it  
          has made a reasonable effort to locate and notify the victim to  
          whom restitution is owed if, at the expiration of a three-year  
          period, the local agency elects to use the restitution funds for  
          victim services.

           ANALYSIS  :    The California Constitution provides that all  
          persons who suffer losses as a result of criminal activity will  
          have the right to restitution from the perpetrators of the  
          crimes, unless there are compelling and extraordinary reasons  
          (Article I, Section 28).

          A county that holds victim restitution funds can designate an  
          agency to transfer funds to, the California Victim Compensation  
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          and Government Claims Board (CVCGCB) for direct payment to the  
          victim, the Restitution Fund, to the extent that the victim has  
          received assistance pursuant to that program, or the victim  
          directly. 

          In 1995, the Legislature required victim restitution moneys to  
          be either deposited into the Restitution Fund, or used by the  
          local agency for purposes of victim services after the  
          expiration of a three-year period.  Once a judgment has been  
          made to award restitution moneys to victims, and victims have  
          not been found, the only notice that is required is publication  
          in the newspaper (SB 911, Marks, Chapter 876, Statutes of 1995).

          Last year, the Legislature approved legislation requiring courts  
          to assess a post release community supervision or  
          mandatory-supervision revocation fine in the same amount as that  
          imposed for a restitution fine, and authorizes local agencies to  
          collect them.  This change was part of California's corrections  
          realignment plan, which shifted responsibility from the state to  
          counties for the custody, treatment, and supervision of  
          individuals convicted of specified nonviolent, non-serious,  
          non-sex crimes (SB 1210, Lieu, Chapter 762, Statutes of 2012).   
          Also last year, the Legislature authorized prosecutors to send  
          victim contact information to California Department of  
          Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), without the victim's  
          consent, for purposes of distributing restitution (AB 2251,  
          Feuer, Chapter 124, Statutes of 2012).

          This bill requires a local agency, if it elects to use the  
          unclaimed victims restitution money for purposes of victim  
          services at the expiration of the three-year period, to first  
          document that it has made a reasonable effort to locate and  
          notify the victim to whom the restitution is owed.

           Comments
           
          According to the Senate Governance and Finance Committee  
          analysis, some local officials want to ensure that agencies make  
          a sincere and reasonable effort to get victims the restitution  
          fees due to them.  Currently, the only notice that is required  
          is publication in the newspaper.  This form of notice is rarely  
          effective.  The procedure used by investigators to find witness,  
          including contacting them through previous listed phone numbers,  
          addresses, emails, and social media, is far more intensive.  The  

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          Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey notes that  
          money may be collected on behalf of victims by probation  
          departments and prosecutors as well as the state.  Due to  
          realignment of the prison population, increasing numbers of  
          crime victims will rely on local government rather than CDCR to  
          collect restitution.  She states that "it is time to update this  
          law to assure that crime victims will receive the money that is  
          owed to them."   AB 934 advances the laudable goal of providing  
          crime victims with restitution that state laws provide to them.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   Local:  
           No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/27/13)

          Los Angeles County District Attorney (source) 
          Crime Victims United

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  70-0, 5/16/13
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Ian  
            Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,  
            Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia,  
            Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Hagman, Hall, Harkey,  
            Roger Hernández, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue,  
            Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Mitchell, Mullin,  
            Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea,  
            V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner,  
            Ting, Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,  
            Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Allen, Buchanan, Eggman, Beth Gaines, Grove,  
            Holden, Melendez, Morrell, Stone, Vacancy


          AB:nl  8/27/13   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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