BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
SB 930 (Berryhill) - Aggravated arson.
Amended: March 28, 2014 Policy Vote: Public Safety 7-0
Urgency: Yes Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: April 28, 2014
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 930, an urgency measure, would reenact the
monetary threshold damage provision of the aggravated arson
statute until January 1, 2019, and adjust the threshold amount
from $6.5 million to $7 million to reflect the effects of
inflation.
Fiscal Impact: Potentially significant future annual General
Fund costs to the extent the reenacted aggravated arson
provision results in longer prison terms than otherwise would
have occurred under the existing arson statutes. The additional
state costs would not be incurred until after the base term of
the arson sentence would have been served, the enhancement, or
both.
Three offenders have been sentenced to life terms with the
possibility of parole under the aggravated arson provision over
the past four years, with two convictions most recently in 2013.
By extending the sunset of this provision and adjusting the
threshold amount, if one person every other year during the
reenactment period (5 years) receives an aggravated arson
sentence for excess damages, the annual cost in 20 years,
assuming a maximum term of 14 years under existing arson
statutes, would exceed $90,000.
Background: Existing law defines the crime of aggravated arson,
and makes a person guilty of that crime if the person has been
previously convicted of arson on one or more occasions within
the past 10 years, or if the fire caused damage to, or the
destruction of, five or more inhabited structures. In addition,
existing law, until January 1, 2014, made a person guilty of
aggravated arson if the fire caused property damage and other
losses in excess of $6.5 million and specified the costs of fire
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suppression to be included in calculating the amount of property
damage and other losses for purposes of that provision (Penal
Code (PC) § 451.5(a)(2)). A conviction under the aggravated
arson statute is punishable by 10 years-to-life in state prison.
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has
reported five commitments to state prison over the past eight
years (and two commitments in 2013) under the aggravated arson
provision specified in this measure. All individuals were
sentenced to life terms with the possibility of parole.
Proposed Law: This bill would reenact the monetary threshold
damage provision of the aggravated arson statute until January
1, 2019, and would update the threshold amount from $6.5 million
to $7 million to account for inflation utilizing the Consumer
Price Index inflation calculation from the United States
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This bill contains an urgency clause stating that, "in order to
restore a valuable deterrent to arson-caused fires and convict
dangerous arsonists who cause extensive property damage and pose
an immediate threat to public safety, it is necessary that this
act take effect immediately."
Related Legislation: AB 27 (Jeffries) Chapter 71/2009 extended
the January 1, 2010, sunset date to January 1, 2014, on the
monetary threshold damage provisions of the aggravated arson
statute, and adjusted the amount, per legislative intent
contained in the underlying statute, from $5.6 million to $6.5
million, to reflect the effects of inflation.
AB 1995 (Jeffries) 2008 would have increased the threshold
damage provisions of the aggravated arson statute from $5.6
million to $6.5 million, to account for inflation since 2004.
This bill would have extended the repeal date for the provisions
relating to property damage to January 1, 2014. This bill was
held on the Suspense file of this committee.
AB 1907 (Pacheco) Chapter 135/2004 increased the threshold
damage provisions of the aggravated arson statute from $5
million to $5.6 million, to account for inflation and extended
the repeal date for the specified provision for five years to
January 1, 2010.
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Staff Comments: Existing law provides that arson under various
circumstances is punishable by imprisonment in state prison for
terms ranging from 16 months to nine years (PC §§ 451(a)-(d)).
Further, any person convicted of arson may be punished by a
three, four, or five-year enhancement under specified
circumstances (PC § 451.1).
The fiscal impact of reenacting the aggravated arson statute
specified in this measure will be dependent on the details of
each future arson case and the decisions of individual judges in
sentencing hearings. In the absence of the reenactment of this
provision, the court would no longer be able to sentence an
individual beyond the base term plus any applicable
enhancements, assuming the arson did not otherwise qualify as an
aggravated arson case under existing law. By giving judges the
discretion provided under the aggravated arson statute to impose
a term of 10 years-to-life in prison, there is a potential for
lengthier prison sentences, which would be a future cost to the
General Fund. Costs would be incurred after the base term and
any enhancements for arson have been served and the extended
aggravated arson term in excess of the arson sentence begins.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the CDCR to reduce prison
crowding to 137.5 percent of the prison system's design capacity
by February 28, 2016. Although public safety realignment has
achieved significant reductions in the prison population, and
the 2014-15 Governor's Budget projects meeting the population
cap in the near-term, the analysis by the Legislative Analyst's
Office suggests that CDCR's long-term prison caseload will
likely exceed this cap. Because California's institutions
already exceed the population limit, any near-term and future
increases to the state's prison population would likely require
the state to pursue one of several options including
contracting-out for additional bed space or releasing current
inmates early onto parole.
The cost for in-state contracted bed space is estimated at
approximately $31,000 per bed per year based on estimates
reflected in the 2014-15 Governor's Budget, however it should be
noted that the costs may be higher if the inmates in contracted
bed space have significant physical or mental health needs.
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The CDCR has indicated three convictions for aggravated arson
have occurred over the past four years, with two convictions
occurring in 2013. All individuals were sentenced to life terms
with the possibility of parole. Assuming one person is convicted
every other year of aggravated arson during the reenactment
period (2014-2019), in 20 years the state could incur additional
incarceration costs of over $90,000. This estimate assumes that
in the absence of this measure, the maximum sentence for arson
including enhancements of 14 years (9 year base term plus 5 year
enhancement) would have been served.