BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1195 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 1195 (Eggman) As Amended July 8, 2013 Majority vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |73-0 |(April 22, |SENATE: |32-2 |(August 19, | | | |2013) | | |2013) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: JUD. SUMMARY : Prohibits law enforcement agencies from requiring proof of legal presence in the United States (U.S.) and refusing to accept certain forms of identification, if identification is required, for the disclosure of crime reports and other related records required to be disclosed under the Public Records Act (PRA). Specifically, this bill : 1)Prohibits a state or local law enforcement agency from requiring a victim of any incident to show proof of the victim's legal presence in the U.S. in order to obtain specified information about the incident ("crime report") required to be disclosed by the law enforcement agency pursuant to the PRA. 2)Provides that if, for identification purposes, a state or local law enforcement agency requires identification in order for a victim of an incident, or an authorized representative thereof, to obtain that information, the agency shall, at a minimum, accept the following forms of identification: a) A current U.S. state issued driver's license or identification card. b) A current passport issued by the U.S. or by a foreign government with whom the U.S. has a diplomatic relationship. c) A current Matricula Consular card. The Senate amendments relocate the current contents of the bill into proposed new section 6254.30 of the Government Code in order to avoid chaptering out problems, but are not substantive in nature. AB 1195 Page 2 FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs. COMMENTS : This bill, co-sponsored by the California Immigrant Policy Center and El Concilio, seeks to prohibit law enforcement agencies from requiring proof of legal residency from crime victims and other persons seeking access to crime reports and related information that is otherwise required to be disclosed to them under the PRA. In addition, this bill provides that if a state or local law enforcement agency requires identification to be presented in order to obtain that information, the agency may not refuse to accept specified forms of identification, including a driver's license, U.S. or foreign passport, or a Matricular Consular (the consular identification card issued by the Mexican government to its citizens living abroad). According to the author, this bill is needed to address the reported lack of access some crime victims have experienced in trying to obtain a copy of the crime report from local law enforcement officials. The author states: There are reports of some victims of crime being denied access to their crime report due to their residency status. They are being denied access to their crime report on the ground that a foreign passport without supporting immigration documents or a Matricula Consular card are not appropriate forms of identification. Current law does not spell out what forms of identification are acceptable if a victim wishes to access their crime report. This bill will remedy the problem by prescribing acceptable forms of identification in order to access a crime report. (Moreover) this bill ensures that the public has access to public records as required by the California Public Records Act. According to the California Immigrant Policy Center, a co-sponsor of this bill, there are many legitimate reasons why a crime victim would seek a copy of the crime report that he or she is entitled to access under the PRA. For example, victims of human trafficking or other crimes who apply for a U-visa or AB 1195 Page 3 T-visa under the Violence Against Women's Act (VAWA) would largely benefit from accessing their crime records to support their applications. A crime report can help a victim of domestic violence obtain a restraining order or initiate divorce proceedings in an expedient matter. In addition, a victim of identity theft needs to obtain a crime report in order to create an Identity Theft Report with the Federal Trade Commission. Some advocates for women and immigrants report that, in the areas that they operate, local law enforcement officials have been known to deny crime victims their crime report because they do not present a form of identification that demonstrates proof of legal residency. According to an informal survey of local law enforcement agencies by El Concilio, a co-sponsor of this bill, five of the 22 county sheriff's offices surveyed in the state reported that they would not accept a foreign passport or the Matricula Consular as a valid form of identification, even though both contain a picture of the person and are widely accepted as simply proving the person to be who they claim to be. The PRA governs the disclosure of information collected and maintained by public agencies. Generally, all public records are accessible to the public upon request, unless the record requested is exempt from public disclosure. Government Code Section 6254 of the PRA exempts from disclosure over two dozen types of records because of the content of the information in those records, and outlines specific conditions that must be met to authorize the disclosure of certain other records. The PRA contemplates that disclosure of certain information about the crime may endanger the safety of a witness or other person involved in the investigation, or endanger the successful completion of the investigation itself, and therefore permits non-disclosure in those conditions when disclosure would otherwise be required. Importantly, the PRA does not expressly condition disclosure of information based on the identity of the person requesting it, only that if no witness, investigator, or investigation is endangered, then the agency "shall make public" the information to the requesting party. The PRA does not even require the victim of a crime to prove he or she is the victim identified in the crime report, because disclosure of the information is not authorized to be withheld on that basis. According to the author, in practice, however, most law AB 1195 Page 4 enforcement agencies require proof of identification to support a request for a crime report. This bill does not seek to restrict the practice of law enforcement agencies to ask for identification from persons seeking release of crime reports or other related public records. Instead, it simply prohibits law enforcement agencies from requiring proof of legal status from a person in order to obtain a copy of a crime report. In addition, this bill provides that if a law enforcement agency chooses to require identification at all, it may not refuse to accept certain forms of identification, including a current U.S. driver's license, current U.S. or foreign passport, or current Matricula Consular. The Matricula Consular is a personal identification card issued by the Mexican government through its consulate offices that serves as the official record for its citizens living outside of Mexico. The Assembly Judiciary Committee's research indicates the Matricula Consular is already recognized by many law enforcement agencies in California for the purpose of providing valid identification. In 2003, at least 12 counties, 25 cities, and dozens of police and sheriff's departments in California were accepting the Matricula Consular as a form of identification. (Senate Floor Analysis of AB 25 (Núñez), of 2003-04, 8/27/2003.) In fact, according to the informal survey of sheriff's departments cited by the author, at least five sheriff departments in California report that they already accept the Matricula Consular for purposes of obtaining crime records. In some jurisdictions, the Matricula Consular is also accepted for other local governmental purposes, including, for example, to apply for public utilities and to identify oneself at schools and public libraries as a parent or user. Analysis Prepared by : Anthony Lew / JUD. / (916) 319-2334 FN: 0001438