BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1120
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 16, 2013
Counsel: Stella Choe
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
AB 1120 (Hagman) - As Amended: April 8, 2013
SUMMARY : Mandates the Department of Justice (DOJ) to collect
data on the number of individuals who are charged with a felony
and released without posting bail. Specifically, this bill :
1)States that DOJ shall collect data on all of the following
individuals who are charged with a felony:
a) The number of people cited and released without being
booked;
b) The number of people released on their own recognizance
(OR) prior to initial court appearance;
c) The number of people released on alternative custody
prior to making bail; and,
d) The code violation for which each person was arrested.
2)Requires all personally identifiable information to be
removed.
3)States that information shall be acquired and compiled in a
manner to be determined by DOJ and shall be published on DOJ's
internet Web site in aggregate form.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the Attorney General to procure from any available
source, and file for record and report in the office of the
bureau, all descriptions, information, photographs, and
measurements of all persons convicted of a felony, or
imprisoned for violating any of the military, naval, or
criminal laws of the United States, and of the all well-known
and habitual criminals. (Penal Code Section 11101.)
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2)States that it shall be the DOJ's duty to present to the
Governor, on or before July 1st, an annual report containing
the criminal statistics of the preceding calendar year and to
present at other times as the Attorney General may approve
reports on special aspects of criminal statistics. A
sufficient number of copies of all reports shall be prepared
to enable the Attorney General to send a copy to all public
officials in the state dealing with criminals and to
distribute them generally in channels where they will add to
the public enlightenment. [Penal Code Section 13010(g).]
3)States that the DOJ annual report shall contain statistics
regarding the amount and types of offenses known to public
authorities; the personal and social characteristics of
criminals and delinquents; the administrative actions taken by
law enforcement, judicial, penal, and correctional agencies or
institutions, including those in the juvenile justice system,
in dealing with criminals or delinquents; and the number of
citizens' complaints received by law enforcement agencies, as
specified. [Penal Code Section 13012.]
4)Requires every person and agency that deals with crimes or
criminals or with delinquency or delinquents to maintain
specified records and report statistical data to the DOJ when
requested by the Attorney General. [Penal Code Section
13020.]
5)Provides that a defendant shall not be released from custody
under OR release until the defendant files with the clerk of
the court or other person authorized to accept bail a signed
release agreement which includes (Penal Code Section 1318):
a) The defendant's promise to appear at all times and
places, as ordered by the court or magistrate and as
ordered by any court in which, or any magistrate before
whom the charge is subsequently pending;
b) The defendant's promise to obey reasonable conditions
imposed by the court or magistrate;
c) The defendant's promise not to depart the state without
leave of the court;
d) Agreement by the defendant to waive extradition if the
defendant fails to appear as required and is apprehended
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outside of the state; and,
e) The acknowledgment of the defendant that he or she has
been informed of the consequences and penalties applicable
to violation of the conditions of release.
6)States that every person who is charged with or convicted of a
misdemeanor who is released on OR and who in order to evade
the process of the court willfully fails to appear as required
is guilty of a misdemeanor. [Penal Code Section 1320(a).]
7)States that every person who is charged with or convicted of a
felony who is released on OR and who in order to evade the
process of the court willfully fails to appear as required, is
guilty of a felony, and upon conviction shall be punished by a
fine not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment in the county jail
for not more than one year, or by both the fine and
imprisonment. [Penal Code Section 1320(b).]
8)Allows the sheriff, chief of police, or any other person
responsible for a county or city jail to apply to the
presiding judge of the superior court to receive general
authorization for a period of 30 days to release inmates
pursuant to this section. [Penal Code Section 4024.1(a).]
a) States that whenever, after being authorized by a court,
the actual inmate count exceeds the actual bed capacity of
the county jail, the sheriff, chief of police of other
person responsible for such county or city jail may
accelerate the release, discharge or expiration of sentence
date of sentenced inmates up to a maximum of 30 days.
[Penal Code Section 4024.1(b).]
b) Provides that inmates closest to their normal release,
discharge or expiration of sentence date shall be given
accelerated release priority. [Penal Code Section
4024.1(d).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "It is important
that the public know how overcrowding is impacting their
counties and local communities, especially when there is a
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threat to their public safety."
2)OR Release Generally : OR release allows a defendant to be out
of custody while the criminal case is pending. OR release is
available before and during trial, and on appeal. [See In re
Robinson (1971) 16 Cal.App.3d 539.] OR release generally is
granted based on a written statement from the defendant
promising to appear in court and follow all conditions of
release; but in some cases, the court will grant supervised OR
release, in which a defendant is monitored by a supervising
officer during the release. If a defendant is placed on
supervised OR, he or she may be required to supervision fees
including the cost of any drug or alcohol testing, the cost of
a monitoring device, or other costs associated with
supervising the defendant's release. [CEB, Cal. Criminal Law
Procedure and Practice (2012) Own Recognizance Release Section
5.16, p. 109.]
3)Cite and Release : A citation is a written notice to appear
issued by a peace officer, which includes information on a
time and place for the defendant to appear before a judge or
magistrate. A person arrested for a misdemeanor or infraction
offense must be released on a citation, unless one of the
specified conditions exist, or the offense is specified as a
non-citable offense. [Penal Code Sections 827.1 and
853.6(a)(1).] A peace officer may not cite and release a
defendant arrested for a violation that could be charged as
either a felony or a misdemeanor, commonly referred to as a
"wobbler." [58 Ops.Cal.Atty Gen. 886 (1975).]
This bill requires DOJ to collect data on individuals who are
charged with a felony and cited and released without being
booked. Penal Code Sections 827.1 and 853.6 specifically
authorize peace officers to cite and release defendants
arrested for misdemeanors and infractions. There is no
statutory authority to cite and release a defendant arrested
for a felony offense.
4)Pre-Realignment Jail Overcrowding : Criminal justice
realignment created two classifications of felonies: those
punishable in county jail and those punishable in state
prison. Realignment limited which felons can be sent to state
prison, thus requiring that more felons serve their sentences
in county jails. The new law applies to qualified defendants
who commit qualifying offenses and who were sentenced on or
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after October 1, 2011. Specifically, sentences to state
prison are now mainly limited to registered sex offenders and
individuals with a current or prior serious or violent
offense. In addition to the serious, violent, registerable
offenses eligible for state prison incarceration, there are
approximately 70 felonies which have been specifically
excluded from eligibility for local custody (i.e., the
sentence for which must be served in state prison).
After the implementation of realignment, several anecdotal
stories in the media claimed that realignment is the cause of
overcrowding in county jails and thus has resulted in early
release of county jail inmates. However, overcrowding is not
a new issue for California's county jails. A recent report by
the Public Policy Institute of California found that while
realignment has led to an increase in jail populations,
overcrowding issues existed in county jails prior to
realignment. The report notes that 17 counties were operating
under court orders limiting the number of inmates in their
jails. In all, 13 counties including some of the biggest (Los
Angeles, Orange, San Diego, and Sacramento) had average daily
populations that were larger than the number of beds their
jails were rated for. [Public Policy Institute of California,
Capacity Challenges in California's Jails (September 2012), p.
5.] A report by the California State Sheriffs Association in
2006 estimated that 20 counties were under court mandated
orders limiting capacity in their jails, and that another
dozen counties imposed caps on their own populations.
[California State Sheriffs' Association, Do the Crime, Do the
Time? Maybe Not in California (June 2006), p. v.] These court
orders provide guidelines on which class of offenders should
be released and specify the order in which they should be
released.
5)Argument in Support : According to Golden States Bail Agents
Association (GSBAA), "GSBAA supports AB 1120 because it will
show whether realignment OR programs are effective. There is
a need for unbiased data on the effectiveness of realignment
as explained by Dan Walters in his recent Sacramento Bee
article: 'One can only speculate how many other holes there
may be in realignment. It's time for the Legislature to step
in a provide the public with some real information on what's
happening - particularly whether the felons now being diverted
from prison are committing significant amounts of serious new
crime, as some law enforcement officials have alleged. (Dan
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Walters, Hole found in 'success' of California's prison
realignment , Sacramento Bee, March 1, 2013.)"
6)Related Legislation :
a) AB 805 (Jones-Sawyer) provides that in setting bail, a
judge or magistrate may consider the report prepared by
investigative staff for the purpose of recommending whether
a defendant should be released on OR. AB 805 is pending a
vote on the Assembly Floor.
b) AB 807 (Ammiano) requires the DOJ to include in the
annual criminal statistics report specified information
related to peace officer misconduct. AB 807 is pending
hearing by the Committee on Appropriations.
c) SB 210 (Hancock) authorize a court to determine, at the
time of arraignment in any case that is before a court
concerning the commission of a felony punishable by
imprisonment in a county jail, whether a defendant who is
still in custody may be released on OR. SB 210 is pending
hearing by the Senate Committee on Public Safety.
7)Prior Legislation :
a) SB 1390 (Poochigian), Chapter 160, Statutes of 2006,
required the DOJ to publish statistical data regarding
identity theft arrests in DOJ's annual report on crime in
California.
b) SB 1234 (Kuehl), Chapter 700, Statutes of 2004, required
the Attorney General, upon the availability of funding, to
direct local law enforcement agencies to report to the DOJ
information relative to hate crimes.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Golden State Bail Agents Association
Opposition
AB 1120
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None
Analysis Prepared by : Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744