BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 298
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 14, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
K.H. "Katcho" Achadjian, Chair
SB 298 (Wyland and Walters) - As Amended: August 5, 2013
SENATE VOTE : 37-0
SUBJECT : Local government: supplemental law enforcement
services.
SUMMARY : Allows Orange County or a city within Orange County to
contract for supplemental law enforcement services to enforce
the Vehicle Code on a homeowners' association's privately owned
and maintained road. Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows the Board of Supervisors of Orange County or the city
council of a city within Orange County, as part of a pilot
project, to contract to provide supplemental law enforcement
services to homeowners' associations, as defined in current
law, on an occasional or ongoing basis to enforce the Vehicle
Code on a homeowners' association's privately owned and
maintained road, as specified.
2)Requires contracts entered into pursuant to this bill to
provide for full reimbursement to the county or city of the
actual costs of providing those services, as determined by the
county auditor or auditor-controller or the city auditor.
3)Requires the services provided pursuant to this bill to be
rendered by regularly appointed full-time peace officers, as
specified.
4)Allows services provided in connection with special events or
occurrences, as specified, to be rendered by Level I reserve
peace officers, as specified, who are authorized to exercise
the powers of a peace officer, as specified, if regularly
appointed full-time peace officers are not available to fill
the positions as required in the contract.
5)Requires peace officer rates of pay to be governed by a
memorandum of understanding (MOU).
6)Requires a contract entered into pursuant to this bill to
encompass only law enforcement duties and not services
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authorized to be provided by a private patrol operator, as
specified.
7)Prohibits contracting for law enforcement services, as
authorized by this bill, from reducing the normal and regular
ongoing service that the county or city or agency of the
county or city otherwise would provide.
8)Requires, prior to contracting for ongoing services under this
bill, the board of supervisors or city council to discuss the
contract and the requirements of this section at a duly
noticed public hearing.
9)Requires, on or before June 30, 2016, if the board of
supervisors or city council enters into the contract
authorized pursuant to this bill, the Department of Justice
(DOJ) to prepare and submit to the Legislature a report on the
impact that a contract entered into pursuant to this bill has
on the provision of law enforcement services to people in
communities within the county that are not served by
supplemental police services provided pursuant to this bill.
This report shall be submitted in compliance with current law
governing reports to the Legislature. If the board of
supervisors or city council enters into the contract, the
board of supervisors or city council, as appropriate, shall
reimburse DOJ for the costs of preparing and submitting the
report and may seek reimbursement from the homeowner's
association for these costs.
10)Provides that this bill shall remain in effect only until
January 1, 2017, and as of that date is repealed, unless a
later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2017,
deletes or extends that date.
11)Finds and declares that a special law is necessary and that a
general law cannot be made applicable within the meaning of
Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
because of the presence within Orange County and a city within
Orange County of a unique homeowner association that is
comprised of over 15,000 people with extensive private roads
that need law enforcement.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that the board of supervisors of any county may
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contract on behalf of the sheriff of that county, and the
legislative body of any city may contract on behalf of the
chief of police of that city, to provide supplemental law
enforcement services to:
a) Private individuals or private entities to preserve the
peace at special events or occurrences that happen on an
occasional basis;
b) Private nonprofit corporations that are recipients of
federal, state, county, or local government low-income
housing funds or grants to preserve the peace on an ongoing
basis; and,
c) Private entities at critical facilities on an occasional
or ongoing basis. A "critical facility" means any building,
structure, or complex that in the event of a disaster,
whether natural or manmade, poses a threat to public
safety, including, but not limited to, airports, oil
refineries, and nuclear and conventional fuel powerplants.
2)Provides that contracts entered into pursuant to the authority
outlined above shall provide for full reimbursement to the
county or city of the actual costs of providing those
services, as determined by the county auditor or
auditor-controller, or by the city, as the case may be.
3)Provides that the services outlined above, except as
specified, shall be rendered by regularly appointed full-time
peace officers, as specified.
4)Provides that peace officer rates of pay for the services
described above shall be governed by a memorandum of
understanding.
5)Requires a contract entered into pursuant to the provisions
outlined above to encompass only law enforcement duties and
not services authorized to be provided by a private patrol
operator, as defined in current law.
6)Prohibits any contracting for law enforcement services
described above from reducing the normal and regular ongoing
service that the county, agency of the county, or city
otherwise would provide.
7)Requires, prior to contracting for ongoing services described
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above, the board of supervisors or legislative body, as
applicable, to discuss the contract and the requirements of
the provisions outlined above at a duly noticed public
hearing.
8)Allows any city or county, by ordinance or resolution, to find
and declare that there are privately owned and maintained
roads as described in the ordinance or resolution within the
city or county that are not generally held open for use of the
public for purposes of vehicular travel but, by reason of
their proximity to or connection with highways, the interests
of any residents residing along the roads and the motoring
public will best be served by application of the provisions of
the Vehicle Code to those roads. No ordinance or resolution
shall be enacted unless there is first filed with the city or
county a petition requesting it by a majority of the owners of
any privately owned and maintained road, or by at least a
majority of the board of directors of a common interest
development, as defined, that is responsible for maintaining
the road, and without a public hearing thereon and 10 days'
prior written notice to all owners of the road or all of the
owners in the development. Upon enactment of the ordinance or
resolution, the provisions of the Vehicle Code shall apply to
the privately owned and maintained road if appropriate signs
are erected, as specified, to the effect that the road is
subject to the provisions of the Vehicle Code. The city or
county may impose reasonable conditions and may authorize the
owners, or board of directors of the common interest
development, to erect traffic signs, signals, markings, and
devices which conform to the uniform standards and
specifications adopted by the Department of Transportation
(CalTrans).
9)Provides that CalTrans shall not be required to provide patrol
or enforce any provisions of the Vehicle Code on any privately
owned and maintained road subjected to the provisions of the
Vehicle Code under the provisions outlined above, except those
provisions applicable to private property other than by action
under the provisions outlined above.
10)Defines "privately owned and maintained roads" to include
roads owned and maintained by a city, county, or district that
are not dedicated to use by the public or are not generally
held open for use of the public for purposes of vehicular
travel.
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11)Defines a (homeowner's) association to mean a nonprofit
corporation or unincorporated association created for the
purpose of managing a common interest development.
12)Provides for the licensing and regulation of private patrol
operators by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services
within the Department of Consumer Affairs.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed fiscal.
COMMENTS :
1)According to the author, "State law currently limits the
options available to homeowner's associations for law
enforcement services. Traditionally, local law enforcement
responds to general law enforcement request(s) in
unincorporated areas, such as crimes or criminal complaints.
General law enforcement services do not cover traffic
enforcement, leaving most homeowners' associations with no one
to patrol their private roads for vehicle code infractions?SB
298 will provide statutory authority for Orange County to
enter into a contract with a homeowners' association that owns
and maintains their own private roads for the purpose of
providing vehicle code enforcement on an occasional or ongoing
basis." This bill is sponsored by the Orange County Board of
Supervisors.
2)Current law allows the board of supervisors of any county to
contract on behalf of the sheriff of that county, and the
legislative body of any city to contract on behalf of the
chief of police of that city, to provide supplemental law
enforcement services to private individuals or entities at
special events or on an occasional basis. Contracting for
these supplemental law enforcement services must not reduce
the normal and regular ongoing service that the county, agency
of the county, or city otherwise would provide.
3)This bill expands current law to allow the Orange County Board
of Supervisors or a city within Orange County to enter into
contracts with private homeowners' associations to enforce the
Vehicle Code on the homeowners' associations' "privately owned
and maintained roads," as defined, on an occasional or ongoing
basis.
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According to the sponsor of this measure, this bill is
designed primarily to benefit the community of Coto de Caza,
the largest guard-gated private community in the County. Coto
de Caza is an unincorporated area within the sphere of
influence of the City of Rancho Santa Margarita. Coto de Caza
is comprised of about 4,000 homes and is one of Orange
County's oldest and most expensive master-planned communities.
The population of Coto de Caza at the 2000 census was 13,057
and grew to approximately 18,600 in 2010. The majority of the
community is tract housing, with collections of custom-built
homes on the outskirts off the main streets. Although the
area is patrolled by the California Highway Patrol, Orange
County Sheriff's Department, and the Coto de Caza security
force, the sponsor indicates that the community nevertheless
experiences persistent traffic violations - primarily speeding
along the community's main thoroughfares, many of which have
been equipped with speed bumps and other traffic control
measures to no avail. The author's office notes that the
community must rely on authorized peace officers for this
service because private patrol operators are not authorized to
enforce the Vehicle Code.
4)A similar bill, AB 1643 (Dickinson), Chapter 48, Statutes of
2012, expanded the authority of the Sacramento County Sheriff
and the Chief of Police of the City of Sacramento to hire
sheriffs or police security officers for the purpose of
protecting any properties owned or operated by any public
agency, privately owned company, or nonprofit entity, whose
primary business supports national defense, or whose facility
qualified as a national critical infrastructure under federal
law, or that stores or manufactures material that, if stolen,
vandalized, or otherwise compromised, may compromise national
security or pose a danger to residents within the County of
Sacramento.
5)Support arguments : Supporters assert that this bill will
provide the additional law enforcement services, specifically
traffic enforcement that Orange County's private developments
need for their residents.
Opposition arguments : Opponents could argue that the
provisions of this bill could present a conflict for Orange
County or cities within the county in providing services to
different areas within their jurisdiction, despite language in
the bill that prohibits contracting for supplemental law
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enforcement services from reducing the normal and regular
ongoing service that the county or city otherwise would
provide.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Orange County Board of Supervisors [SPONSOR]
Sandra Hutchens, Sherriff-Coroner, County of Orange
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Angela Mapp / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958