BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1006
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1006 (Yamada)
As Introduced February 22, 2013
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 6-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Ammiano, Melendez, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Jones-Sawyer, Mitchell, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Skinner, Waldron | |Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| | | |Hall, Holden, Linder, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, Wagner, Weber |
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SUMMARY : Requires courts and probation departments to ensure
that information about the sealing of juvenile records are
provided to a minor against whom a juvenile proceeding has been
initiated or who has been brought before a probation officer as
specified. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires, on and after January 1, 2015, each court and
probation department to ensure that information regarding the
eligibility for and the procedures to request the sealing and
destruction of juvenile arrest and adjudication records is
provided to each person against whom a juvenile proceeding has
been initiated or who has been brought before a probation
officer.
2)Requires, on or before January 1, 2015, Judicial Council to
develop informational materials for purposes of the above
provision and to develop a form to petition the court for the
sealing and destruction of juvenile records.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that five years or more after the jurisdiction of the
juvenile court has terminated over a person adjudged a ward of
the court or after a minor appeared before a probation
officer, or, in any case, at any time after the person has
reached the age of 18, the person or county probation officer,
with specified exceptions, may petition the juvenile court for
sealing of the records, including arrest records, relating to
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the person's case, in the custody of the juvenile court, the
probation officer, or any other agency or public official.
2)States that once the court has ordered the person's records
sealed, the proceedings in the case shall be deemed never to
have occurred, and the person may reply accordingly to any
inquiry about the events.
3)Prohibits the sealing or destruction of juvenile records in
any case in which the person has been found by the juvenile
court to have committed a moral turpitude offense when the
person was 14 years of age or older at the time of the offense
or if the case was transferred to a criminal court.
4)Allows a peace officer to take a minor into temporary custody
without a warrant when the officer has reasonable cause to
believe that the minor is habitually disobedient or truant or
has committed a crime; is a ward of the juvenile court and the
officer believes that the minor violated an order of the court
or has escaped from a commitment ordered by the court; or is
found in any public place suffering from a sickness or injury
requiring care.
5)Allows an officer to bring a minor who was taken into custody
before the probation officer of the county in which the minor
was taken into custody or resides or in which the acts took
place that resulted in the minor being taken into custody.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Minor ongoing state-reimbursable General Fund (GF) costs,
likely less than $100,000 statewide, for county probation
departments to provide information to juveniles in the
temporary custody of a probation officer. Given this
information would be provided in the course of providing other
information, costs should be minor and reimbursement claims
may not even be filed.
2)Minor one-time GF costs, likely less than $50,000, for state
courts to develop informational material regarding the sealing
of juvenile court records and a form for petitioning the court
for sealing.
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3)Minor ongoing GF costs, likely less than $50,000, for state
courts to provide information to juveniles at the time of
legal proceedings. Given this information would be provided
in the course of providing other information, costs should be
minor.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Youth who have completed
their court adjudicated debt to society should have an
opportunity to start over with a clean slate. Unfortunately,
because of a lack of formal process to inform youth of this
right, many former juvenile offenders are unaware that their
records are unsealed until they are refused a job, credit or
housing. This impedes the state's explicitly-stated goal of
rehabilitating youthful offenders and reintroducing them to
society."
The author further states that current law "allows a juvenile
who has not received an adult felony conviction or committed a
serious felony after the age of 14 to request that their records
be reviewed and sealed by the court. This prevents minor
juvenile offenses from inhibiting career plans, educational
goals, credit establishment, professional licensure, and access
to housing and employment opportunities. Vulnerable youth
populations such as foster and homeless youth especially benefit
from this process because they often possess juvenile records
and already face numerous disadvantages as they enter adulthood.
"An unsealed record can impede a former offender's progress
toward self-sufficiency by acting as a barrier to job and
educational opportunities, professional licensure, applying for
credit and leasing a house. Individuals may be disqualified from
public housing or federal loans for college."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Shaun Naidu / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
FN: 0000146
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