BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1108 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 1108 (Perea and Frazier) As Amended September 3, 2013 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |70-0 |(May 16, 2013) |SENATE: |39-0 |(September 9, | | | | | | |2013) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: PUB. S. SUMMARY : Makes it a misdemeanor 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 to volunteer in specified foster homes or facilities. The Senate amendments : 1)Clarify the facility types. 2)Include facilities receiving minors declared wards of the court based on truancy or other status offenders. 3)Clarify that this section does not limit the authority of the Department of Social Services (DSS) to deny a criminal record exemption request under other statutes. EXISTING LAW : 1)Requires persons convicted of specified sex offenses to register for life, or reregister if the person has been previously registered, upon release from incarceration, placement, commitment, or release on probation. States that the registration shall consist of all of the following: a) A statement signed in writing by the person, giving information as shall be required by Department of Justice (DOJ) and giving the name and address of the person's employer, and the address of the person's place of employment, if different from the employer's main address; b) Fingerprints and a current photograph taken by the registering official; AB 1108 Page 2 c) The license plate number of any vehicle owned by, regularly driven by or registered in the name of the registrant; d) Notice to the person that he or she may have a duty to register in any other state where he or she may relocate; and, e) Copies of adequate proof of residence, such as a California driver's license or identification card, recent rent or utility receipt or any other information that the registering official believes is reliable. 2)Prohibits registrants whose crime was against a victim under age 16 from working with minors as an employee or volunteer, under specified circumstances. Provides that if the registrant's crime was not against a victim under age 16, the registrant must notify the employer or volunteer organization of his status as a registrant. 3)Provides, in a statute entitled "Sex Offender Registrant Parolees," that notwithstanding any other provision of law, when a person is released on parole after having served a term of imprisonment in a state prison for which registration as a sex offender is required, that person may not, during the period of parole, reside in any single family dwelling with any other person also required to register as a sex offender, unless those persons are legally related by blood, marriage, or adoption. 4)Prohibits any person required to register as a sex offender from residing within 2,000 feet of any public or private school, or park where children regularly gather. 5)Provides that notwithstanding any other provision of law, an inmate who is released on parole for a violation of lewd and lascivious acts with a child, or continuous sexual abuse of a child, whom the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has determined poses a high risk to the public shall not be placed or reside, for the duration of his or her parole, within one-half mile of any public or private school including any or all of Kindergarten and Grades 1 through 12, inclusive. 6)Establishes the California Community Care Facilities Act AB 1108 Page 3 (CCFA) to provide a comprehensive statewide service system of quality community care for people who have a mental illness, a developmental or physical disability, and children and adults who require care or services by a facility or organization. 7)Authorizes DSS to license facilities or organizations that provide services under the jurisdiction of the CCFA. 8)Prohibits the issuance of a license to operate or manage a community care facility to a person convicted of specified crimes, including a crime requiring as a sex offender registration, unless an exemption is granted. 9)Allows the director of DSS to grant an exemption from disqualification for a license based on criminal record information, but prohibits the granting of an exemption for specified crimes. 10)Provides that any person required to register as a sex offender shall disclose this fact to the licensee of a community care facility before becoming a client of that facility. Any person or persons operating a community care facility that accepts as a client an individual who is required to register as a sex offender shall confirm or deny whether any client of the facility is a registered sex offender in response to any person who inquires whether any client of the facility is a registered sex offender, as specified. 11)Provides that any person who violates the CCFA, as specified, or who willfully or repeatedly violates any rule or regulation promulgated under the Act, is guilty of a misdemeanor. 12)Allows a minor to be removed from the home and placed in foster care (for example, the home of a relative, non-relative, or community care facility) when declared to be a dependent or a ward of the juvenile court. 13)Provides that prior to placing a child in the home of a relative, or the home of any prospective guardian or other person who is not a licensed or certified foster parent, the county social worker must visit the home, conduct a criminal records check and a check of the Child Abuse Central Index. AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill: AB 1108 Page 4 1)Prohibited any person required to register as a sex offender based on the commission of an offense against a minor from residing, except as a client, and from working or volunteering in the following foster homes or facilities: a) A foster home or facility licensed by the State Department of Social Services or a county child welfare services agency; b) A certified home of a foster care agency; and, c) A home or facility that receives a placement of a child who has been, or may be, declared a dependent or a ward of the juvenile court. 2)Specified that a violation is punishable as a misdemeanor. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: 1)Potential ongoing court-related costs for new misdemeanor filings of $24,000 (General Fund*) for every 50 additional filings per year. To the extent existing provisions of the Health and Safety Code provide a similar prohibition on registered sex offenders, the increase in the number of filings is estimated to be minor. 2)Potential costs to the Department of Justice related to enforcement of up to $150,000 (General Fund) per year to update sex offender registrant information, record retrieval and analysis, and workload associated with increased enforcement-related inquiries from various agencies. 3)Annual non-reimbursable local law enforcement costs, offset to a degree by fine revenue. 4)While the impact of this bill independently on local jails is likely to be minor, the cumulative effect of new misdemeanors could create General Fund cost pressure on capital outlay, staffing, programming, the courts, and other resources in the context of criminal justice realignment. *Trial Court Trust Fund AB 1108 Page 5 COMMENTS : According to the author, "AB 1108 would explicitly prohibit registered sex offenders who commit an offense against minors from living, working or volunteering in licensed and unlicensed children's facilities or child welfare services placements. 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." Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion of this bill. Analysis Prepared by : Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN: 0002382