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