BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2687
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2687 (Bocanegra)
As Amended March 27, 2014
Majority vote
TRANSPORTATION 12-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
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|Ayes:|Linder, Achadjian, Bloom, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, |
| |Bonta, Daly, Frazier, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Gatto, Holden, Logue, | |Calderon, Campos, Eggman, |
| |Nazarian, Quirk-Silva, | |Gomez, Holden, Jones, |
| |Waldron | |Linder, Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| | | |Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Adds a Licensing Program Analyst (LPA) with the
Department of Social Services (DSS) to the list of persons who
can request that their home address be held confidential by the
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
EXISTING LAW :
1)Lists 23 classes of persons, primarily in law enforcement
fields, plus the spouses and children of those persons, that
may request that their home addresses be held confidential by
DMV. The home addresses of these persons may only be
disclosed to a court; a law enforcement agency; the State
Board of Equalization; an attorney in a civil or criminal
action who demonstrates to a court the need for the home
address, if the disclosure is made pursuant to a subpoena; and
any governmental agency legally required to be furnished the
information.
2)Makes confidential the home addresses of all individuals
contained within DMV records. These provisions similarly
allow for disclosure to courts, law enforcement agencies, and
other governmental agencies, but also allow for limited
disclosure to financial institutions, insurance companies,
attorneys, vehicle manufacturers, and persons doing
statistical research.
AB 2687
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3)Grants DMV the authority to suppress all records for at least
one year for persons who are under threat of death or bodily
injury. Under these circumstances, the entire record,
including the address, is rendered inaccessible.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, given the relatively small number of LPAs (under
500), costs to DMV to add this group and their family members to
the Confidential Records Program (CRP) would be minor and
absorbable.
COMMENTS : Until 1989, DMV records were considered public
records unless state law specifically made them confidential, as
was the case for the addresses of peace officers and certain
other officials thought to be at risk. Because home addresses
were not considered confidential, any person who gave a reason
that DMV deemed legitimate and could present to DMV a person's
driver's license number or license plate number could obtain
address information on that individual.
In 1989, actress Rebecca Schaeffer was stalked and killed. The
murderer obtained her address from a private investigation
agency doing business in Arizona. The private investigation
agency acquired her address through a subcontractor agent in
California, who obtained it from DMV. In response, the
Legislature enacted AB 1779 (Roos), Chapter 1213, Statutes of
1989, which made all home addresses in DMV records confidential,
with limited exceptions. AB 1779 left in place existing
confidentiality provisions that applied only to peace officers
and certain other officials. The list of those to whom the
pre-AB 1779 confidentiality provisions apply now includes 23
classes of persons. To date, DMV is not aware of any instances
since the implementation of AB 1779 where DMV home address
information has been used for physical harm or for violent
criminal purposes.
This bill proposes to add LPAs employed by DSS to the list of
those persons eligible to request that DVM hold their addresses
confidential via the CRP. LPAs, also known as State Licensing
Evaluators or State Inspectors, operate within the Community
Care Licensing Division of DSS. They are responsible for
monitoring and evaluating licensed facilities, such as child day
care centers, for regulatory compliance, gathering evidence,
documenting findings, and recommending legal and administrative
AB 2687
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actions to be taken against facilities found to be out of
compliance with licensing requirements.
According to the author, there have been many documented
instances of licensees harassing LPAs. Because many LPAs use
their personal vehicles to conduct on-site evaluations, some
fear that disgruntled licensees could be using license plate
information to obtain their home addresses. The author's intent
with this bill is to provide greater protection to LPAs because
of the very sensitive nature of their jobs and the very real
threats of violence and stalking that many have already faced.
Given that DMV records are universally confidential, with
limited exceptions, and the fact that DMV is not aware of any
instances since the implementation of AB 1779 in which DMV home
address information has been used for physical harm or for
violent criminal purposes, the need for this bill is unclear.
People seeking confidential information about others generally
do not look to DMV records for personal data since those records
are so carefully protected and the same information is much more
easily obtainable via the internet and social media. While
there is no doubt that some LPAs have faced serious threats as a
result of their work, there is no reason to believe adding them
to the list of persons eligible for the CRP will afford them a
greater level of protection.
Analysis Prepared by : Anya Lawler / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0003242