BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
SB 950 (Torres) - Bribery: statute of limitations: tolling.
Amended: March 20, 2014 Policy Vote: Public Safety 6-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: April 28, 2014
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 950 would toll the statute of limitations for
commencing criminal actions until the discovery of the offense
of 1) offering or giving a bribe to a public official or public
employee, or, 2) asking, receiving, or agreeing to receive a
bribe by a public official or public employee.
Fiscal Impact:
Future state costs potentially in excess of $150,000 (General
Fund) for new commitments to state prison that otherwise would
not have occurred in the absence of the tolling and extension
of the statute of limitations for specified offenses.
Potential increase in state court costs in excess of $100,000
(General Fund*) to the extent the tolling and extension of the
statute of limitations for prosecution of specified offenses
results in additional criminal actions.
*Trial Court Trust Fund
Background: Existing law provides that every person who gives or
offers a bribe to any executive officer in this state, Member of
the Legislature, member of the legislative body of a city,
county, school district, special district, board of supervisors,
council, or board of trustees of any county, city, or public
corporation, or to any judicial officer, juror, referee,
arbitrator, or umpire, with intent to influence in respect to
any act, decision, vote, opinion, or other proceeding as such
officer, is punishable by imprisonment in state prison for two,
three, or four years, and is disqualified from holding any
public office or trust (PC §§ 67, 85, 92, 165).
In addition, any public officer or employee who asks, receives,
or agrees to receive any bribe is punishable by imprisonment in
state prison for two, three, or four years, or by a restitution
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fine of $2,000 to $10,000, as specified (PC §§ 68, 86, 93).
Under existing law, the statute of limitations for the
acceptance of a bribe by a public official is tolled until the
discovery of the offense. Current law, however, does not
specifically toll the statute of limitations for offering or
giving a bribe to a public official, or for asking, receiving,
or agreeing to receive a bribe by a public official or employee.
Existing law provides that prosecution for an offense punishable
by imprisonment in the state prison shall commence within three
years after the commission of the offense. For offenses
specified under PC § 803(c) such as grand theft, forgery,
insurance fraud, or acceptance of a bribe, prosecution must
commence within four years after the discovery of the offense,
or within four years after the completion of the offense,
whichever is later. For non-felony offenses, prosecution must
commence within one year after the commission of the offense.
Proposed Law: This bill would toll the statute of limitations
for commencing criminal actions until the discovery of the
following offenses, as specified:
Giving or offering a bribe to a public official or public
employee [created by a new subdivision (k) under PC § 803].
Asking, receiving, or agreeing to receive a bribe by a public
official or public employee [added to the list of offenses
enumerated in PC § 803(c)].
Related Legislation: SB 951 (Torres) 2014 would provide that
prosecution for conspiracy shall be commenced within the time
required for the commencement of prosecution for the underlying
crime. This bill is pending hearing in this Committee.
SB 952 (Torres) 2014 would prohibit an individual from aiding or
abetting a public officer or person in violating existing
governmental conflict of interest codes and extend existing
penalties to also apply to the individual who willfully aids or
abets, as specified. This bill is scheduled to be heard today by
this Committee.
Staff Comments: By tolling the statute of limitations until
discovery of the offense and extending the time period within
which to prosecute specified cases from three years to four
years, this bill could result in additional prosecutions,
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convictions, and sentences served in state prison.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the CDCR to reduce the prison
population 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 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 to be
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.
There have been 12 commitments to state prison under the
provisions specified in this measure over the past three years.
In contrast, there have been nearly 270 arrests over the same
period, only 30 percent of which resulted in a conviction. It is
unknown what portion of the remaining 70 percent of arrests were
not pursued due to the existing statute of limitations, but to
the extent 10 percent to 25 percent of the remaining cases would
be impacted by the extended statute of limitations included in
this measure could result in an additional three to seven
commitments to state prison (utilizing the 15 percent commitment
rate of convictions to state prison over the past three years).
Assuming the unit cost for contracted bed space of $31,000 per
year would result in annual state prison costs in the range of
$90,000 to $215,000 (General Fund).
Tolling and extending the statute of limitations for these
offenses would also potentially result in additional state court
costs. It is unknown how many additional cases will be
prosecuted under the provisions of this bill, but for every five
additional cases, costs for a week-long case would be $100,000
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(General Fund), based on an estimated daily court operations
cost of $4,000.
As currently drafted, this bill would not only toll the statute
of limitations until discovery of the offense specified, but
also would extend the statute of limitations for asking,
receiving, or agreeing to receive a bribe by a public official
from three years to four years. While this change is consistent
with the existing provision of law governing the acceptance of a
bribe, the statute of limitations post-discovery for cases
involving the offering or giving of a bribe to a public official
or public employee would remain unchanged. Felony offenses would
be subject to prosecution within three years, and misdemeanor
offenses would require commencement of prosecution within one
year. The author may wish to consider an amendment to address
the disparate treatment between individuals issuing and
receiving a bribe.