BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1108
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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
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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