BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1108 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 8, 2013 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Mike Gatto, Chair AB 1108 (Perea) - As Amended: April 29, 2013 Policy Committee: Public SafetyVote: 7-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: Yes Reimbursable: No SUMMARY This bill makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in county jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000, for any person required to register as a sex offender based on the commission of an offense against a minor to reside (except as a client), to work or volunteer in specified foster homes or facilities. FISCAL EFFECT Unknown, likely minor nonreimbursable local law enforcement costs, offset to a degree by fine revenue. While the impact of this bill on local jails is likely to be minor, the cumulative effect of new misdemeanors may create GF cost pressure regarding state and local capital outlay, facility staffing, and trial court time and facilities in the context of correctional realignment. COMMENTS 1)Rationale . This bill is in response to an October 2011 report by the State Auditor, Child Welfare Services, California Can and Must Provide Better Protection and Support for Abused and Neglected Children. The report noted the Department of Social Services (DSS) could make better use of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) sex-offender registry to ensure sex offenders are not living or working among children in the child welfare services system. The auditor compared the addresses of sex offenders in the DOJ registry with the addresses of licensed facilities, as well as the addresses of child welfare services placements, and found more than 1,000 address matches. AB 1108 Page 2 The author states, "State licensed and unlicensed facilities that serve children should be safe places. We need to make sure our state agencies and law enforcement are using all the tools available to them to keep sex offenders away from our must vulnerable children." 2)Current law generally prohibits registered sex offenders from working in positions having direct, unsupervised contact with children. Current law also authorizes human resource agencies and employers to request from the DOJ records of convictions or arrests of a person applying for a license, employment, or volunteer position in which he or she would have supervision over children. 3)Prior legislation , AB 493 (Perea), would have (a) created a new misdemeanor prohibiting persons who are required to register as sex offenders from residing, working or volunteering in specified community care facilities for children; and (b) required DSS peace officers to compare the residence and employment addresses of registered sex offenders against the addresses of specified community care facilities for children at least quarterly, and to take appropriate action when matches were discovered. AB 493, which was a gut-and-amend in the Senate, was held on the Senate Appropriations Committee's Suspense File. Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081