BILL NUMBER: SB 428 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 13, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Anderson
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
An act to amend Section 190.6 of the Penal Code
add Section 32254.5 to the Education Code , relating to
capital crimes school safety, making an
appropriation therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 428, as amended, Anderson. Capital crimes: expeditious
imposition of sentence. School safety: The Safe
Classrooms Act.
Existing law provides that the Legislature recognizes that crime,
including vandalism, and violence have reached an alarming level at
schoolsites throughout California and further recognizes that there
is a need for dealing with the complex problems of crime and violence
at schoolsites and for developing effective techniques and programs
to combat crime and violence at schoolsites.
Existing law, the School Safety and Violence Prevention Act, which
is administered by the Superintendent of Public Instruction,
requires the Superintendent to provide funds to school districts
serving pupils in any of grades 8 to 12, inclusive, for the purpose
of promoting school safety and reducing schoolsite violence.
This bill, the Safe Classrooms Act, would appropriate $850,000,000
from the General Fund to the Superintendent for allocation to school
districts and charter schools for the purpose of funding projects
that address classroom and school facility safety improvements. The
bill would specify that eligible projects include, among other
things, security threat assessment surveys and school facility safety
improvements. The bill would require the Superintendent to establish
an application process for school districts and charter schools to
apply for funding of these projects, and would require the
Superintendent, in approving the applications, to consider equitable
distribution between school districts and charter schools in urban
and rural areas and pupil enrollment.
Funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the
minimum funding requirements for school districts and community
college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the
California Constitution.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Existing law states that the Legislature finds that the sentence
in all capital cases should be imposed expeditiously. Existing law
generally requires that the opening appellate brief to the Supreme
Court be filed no later than 7 months after certification of the
trial record for completeness in all cases in which the sentence of
death has been imposed. Existing law states that it is the
Legislature's goal that the appeal be decided and an opinion reaching
the merits be filed within 210 days of the completion of that
briefing. Existing law states that the failure to comply with these
time limits shall not be a ground for granting relief from a judgment
of conviction or sentence of death.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these
provisions.
Vote: majority 2/3 . Appropriation:
no yes . Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be
cited, as the Safe Classrooms Act.
SEC. 2. Section 32254.5 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
32254.5. (a) The sum of eight hundred fifty million dollars
($850,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the
Superintendent for allocation to school districts and charter schools
offering kindergarten and any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, for the
purpose of funding projects that address classroom and school
facility safety improvements. Eligible projects include, but are not
limited to, the following:
(1) School facility safety improvements, including any of the
following:
(A) Improvements that control physical access into the school
buildings and utility rooms, including improvements to exterior
doors, windows, fixed ladders, and designated entrances.
(B) Improvements to school parking lots used for dropping off and
picking up pupils, teacher and school personnel parking lots, and
access pathways.
(C) Improvements to access through the main entrance, including
locks, door types, and vestibules.
(D) Improvements to emergency lighting systems used to guide
pupils, teachers, and school personnel to safety during power
outages.
(E) Improvements to fences and gates.
(F) Installation or improvements to cameras or surveillance
systems.
(2) Lock and key mechanisms for doors, either electronic or
mechanical, to control ingress and egress.
(3) Public address systems, emergency communications, phones and
data communications, and emergency and school police radio equipment.
(4) Security threat assessment surveys.
(5) Emergency training, and reevaluation of administrative
policies and procedures.
(b) The Superintendent shall establish an application process for
school districts and charter schools to apply for funding of projects
described in subdivision (a).
(c) In approving applications, the Superintendent shall consider
both of the following:
(1) Equitable distribution between school districts and charter
schools in urban and rural areas.
(2) Pupil enrollment in the school district or charter school.
SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary
for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety
within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go
into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to continue to protect children and efficiently finance
their continued safety while in school at the earliest possible time,
it is necessary that this bill take effect immediately.
SECTION 1. Section 190.6 of the Penal Code is
amended to read:
190.6. (a) The Legislature finds that the sentence in all capital
cases should be imposed expeditiously.
(b) Therefore, in all cases in which a sentence of death has been
imposed on or after January 1, 1997, the opening appellate brief in
the appeal to the State Supreme Court shall be filed no later than
seven months after the certification of the record for completeness
under subdivision (d) of Section 190.8 or receipt by the appellant's
counsel of the completed record, whichever is later, except for good
cause. However, in those cases where the trial transcript exceeds
10,000 pages, the briefing shall be completed within the time limits
and pursuant to the procedures set by the rules of court adopted by
the Judicial Council.
(c) In all cases in which a sentence of death has been imposed on
or after January 1, 1997, it is the Legislature's goal that the
appeal be decided and an opinion reaching the merits be filed within
210 days of the completion of the briefing. However, where the appeal
and a petition for writ of habeas corpus is heard at the same time,
the petition should be decided and an opinion reaching the merits
should be filed within 210 days of the completion of the briefing for
the petition.
(d) The failure of the parties or the Supreme Court to meet or
comply with the time limit provided by this section is not a ground
for granting relief from a judgment of conviction or sentence of
death.