BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
SB 771 (Galgiani) - Inmates: temporary removal.
Amended: April 1, 2013 Policy Vote: Public Safety 7-0
Urgency: Yes Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 6, 2013 Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 771, an urgency measure, would specify that the
Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(CDCR) may temporarily remove an inmate from prison or any other
adult institution under the jurisdiction of the department for
the purpose of permitting the inmate to participate in or assist
with the gathering of evidence relating to crimes. This bill
would specify that the inmate would not be charged the costs
associated with a temporary removal from prison for this
purpose. The provisions of this measure would sunset on January
1, 2014.
Fiscal Impact: Potential increased custody and transportation
costs to the CDCR, likely less than $50,000 (General Fund) for
authorizations for temporary removal from prison.
Background: Existing law authorizes the Secretary of the CDCR to
temporarily remove any inmate from prison or any other
institution for the detention of adults under CDCR jurisdiction,
including removal for the purpose of attending college classes.
Existing law provides that, unless the inmate is removed for
medical treatment, the removal shall not be for a period longer
than three days. Existing law also authorizes the Secretary to
require the inmate to reimburse the state, in whole or in part,
for expenses incurred by the state in connection with the
temporary removal, other than for medical treatment.
Proposed Law: This bill, an urgency measure, would reinstate
until January 1, 2014, the provisions of AB 2357 (Galgiani) that
sunset on January 1, 2013, that allowed the Secretary of the
CDCR to temporarily remove an inmate for the purpose of
permitting the inmate to participate in or assist with the
gathering of evidence relating to crimes.
SB 771 (Galgiani)
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The urgency clause states, "In order to enable law enforcement
agencies to obtain important evidence regarding serious crimes,
including murder and kidnapping, from inmates as soon as
possible, it is necessary that this act take effect
immediately."
Related Legislation: AB 2357 (Galgiani) Chapter 145/2012 was
virtually identical to this measure. The provisions of the bill
sunset on January 1, 2013.
Staff Comments: This bill could result in increased custody and
transportation costs to the CDCR associated with the temporary
removal of inmates to assist with the gathering of evidence
relating to crimes to the extent increased requests from law
enforcement are received and authorized as a result of this
measure.
The CDCR has indicated that currently prisoners are granted
temporary leave from prison under certain circumstances, for
example, to attend family funerals. As existing law authorizes
the Secretary of the CDCR to temporarily remove any inmate from
prison, including but not limited to removal for the purposes of
attending college classes and as noted in the example above, it
appears the CDCR currently has the authority to temporarily
remove an inmate from prison to assist with the gathering of
evidence relating to crimes. This bill adds a provision
specifically providing that the inmate will not be required to
reimburse the state for expenses incurred by the state in
connection with the temporary removal.
Transportation and custody costs are estimated to cost
approximately $1,950 per incidence of temporary removal over
three days. It is unknown at this time how many requests will be
made by law enforcement for temporary removal of inmates to
assist in the gathering of evidence, but would likely be less
than $50,000 (General Fund) to the extent up to 25 temporary
removals are authorized prior to the sunset date.