BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1195
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1195 (Eggman)
As Amended July 8, 2013
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |73-0 |(April 22, |SENATE: |32-2 |(August 19, |
| | |2013) | | |2013) |
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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
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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
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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
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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 (N��ez), 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