BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 1461
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          Date of Hearing:   June 10, 2014
          Counsel:                Stella Choe


                         ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
                                 Tom Ammiano, Chair

            SB 1461 (Committee on Public Safety) - As Amended:  April 21,  
                                        2014


           SUMMARY  :   Makes technical and corrective changes, as well as  
          non-controversial substantive changes, to various code sections  
          relating to criminal justice laws.  Specifically,  this bill  : 

          1)Provides that the Compact Administrator of California's  
            participation in the Interstate Compact for juveniles is the  
            Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and  
            Rehabilitation, or his or her designee.

          2)Replaces the Department of General Services' representative on  
            the Attorney General's California Law Enforcement  
            Telecommunications System (CLETS) Advisory Committee with a  
            representative from the California Office of Emergency  
            Services.

          3)Clarifies that the prohibition against operating a personal  
            watercraft any time between the hours from sunset to sunrise  
            does not apply to marine patrol, harbor police or emergency  
            personnel in performance of their duties.

          4)Clarifies that the accessory theory still exists as a  
            prosecutorial option for the crime of transportation of  
            controlled substances for sale.

          5)States, except in cases where a different punishment is  
            prescribed, every offense declared to be an infraction is  
            punishable by a fine not exceeding $250.

          6)Makes a number of cross-reference and technical changes in the  
            Corporation Code, Health and Safety Code, Family Code, Fish  
            and Game Code, Penal Code and Welfare and Institutions Code,  
            relating to public safety.

           EXISTING LAW  :








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          1)Establishes the Interstate Compact for Juveniles, which, among  
            other things, provides for the establishment of rules and  
            procedures for the tracking and supervision or return of  
            juveniles and juvenile offenders among compacting states.   
            (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 1400, et. seq.)

          2)Provides that the Compact Administrator of California's  
            participation in the Interstate Compact for juveniles is the  
            executive director of the Corrections Standards Authority.   
            (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 1401.)

          3)Requires the Attorney General's CLETS Advisory Committee to  
            consist of representatives from the following organizations  
            (Gov. Code, § 15155):

             a)   Two representatives from the Peace Officers' Association  
               of the State of California;

             b)   One representative from the California State Sheriffs'  
               Association;

             c)   One representative from the League of California Cities;

             d)   One representative from the County Supervisors  
               Association of California; 

             e)   One representative from the Department of Justice;

             f)   One representative from the Department of Motor  
               Vehicles;

             g)   One representative from the Department of General  
               Services;

             h)   One representative from the California Highway Patrol;  
               and,

             i)   One representative from the California Police Chiefs  
               Association.

          4)States that no person shall operate a personal watercraft at  
            any time between the hours from sunset to sunrise.  (Harb. &  
            Nav. Code § 655.7, subd. (d).)









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          5)Defines "transports" for purposes of transporting specified  
            controlled substances to mean to transport for sale.  States  
            that this section does not preclude or limit the prosecution  
            of an individual for aiding and abetting the commission of, or  
            conspiring to commit, any act prohibited by this section.   
            (Health & Saf. Code, §§ 11352 & 11379.)

          6)Provides that an infraction is a crime not punishable by  
            imprisonment and that a person charged with an infraction is  
            not entitled to a jury trial.  (Pen. Code, § 19.6.)  

          7)Specifies several code sections that can be prosecuted as a  
            misdemeanor or an infraction and states that, except where a  
            lesser maximum fine is expressly provided for a violation of  
            those sections, a violation that is an infraction is  
            punishable by a fine not exceeding $250.  (Pen. Code, § 19.8,  
            subd. (a).)

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   Unknown.

           COMMENTS  :   

           1)Author's Statement  : "This is the annual omnibus bill.  In past  
            years, the omnibus bill has been introduced by all members of  
            the Committee on Public Safety.  This bill is similar to the  
            ones introduced as Committee bills in the past in that it has  
            been introduced with the following understanding:

                 The bill's provisions make only technical or minor  
               changes to the law; and
                 There is no opposition by any member of the Legislature  
               or recognized group to the proposal.

            "This procedure has allowed for introduction of fewer minor  
            bills and has saved the Legislature time and expense over the  
            years."

           1)Interstate Compact for Juveniles  : Welfare and Institutions  
            Code section 1401 currently designates the executive director  
            of the Corrections Standards Authority to be the Compact  
            Administrator over California's participation in the  
            Interstate Compact for Juveniles.  This designation was made  
            when the newly amended and ratified Interstate Compact for  
            Juveniles was adopted and codified into California law in AB  
            1053 (Solorio, Chapter 268, Statutes of 2009).  








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          Although the Compact Administrator was designated as such, the  
            day-to-day operations have historically been conducted by the  
            California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation  
            (CDCR).  Moreover, in the budget act of 2011-2012, the  
            Corrections Standards Authority was re-created as the Board of  
            State and Community Corrections, an entity separate and  
            independent of CDCR.  Returning the Compact Administrator  
            designation to CDCR will conform statute to current practice,  
            as well as provide for sustainable oversight and fulfillment  
            of the responsibilities under the Interstate Compact for  
            Juveniles, and be in the best interests of the supervision of  
            juvenile offenders and the public safety of the compacting  
            states. 

           2)CLETS Advisory Committee  : Government Code section 15155  
            details the membership of the Attorney General's CLETS  
            Advisory Committee.  One of the subsections mandates a  
            representative from the Department of General Services (DGS)  
            to be on the committee.

            DGS no longer organizationally houses the relevant  
            telecommunications unit expertise that initiated membership at  
            the statute's origin in 1965.  Given the Executive Branch  
            reorganization that went into effect in July 2013, the  
            relevant unit is now within the California Office of Emergency  
            Services.  

          3)Prohibitions on Use of Personal Watercraft  : Existing law  
            (Harb. & Nav. Code, § 655.7, subd. (d)) generally governs the  
            use of personal watercraft (PWC).  Specifically, HN 655.7(d)  
            provides that no person shall operate a personal watercraft at  
            any time between the hours from sunset to sunrise.  Marine  
            patrols statewide use PWC for patrolling and rescues, but if  
            they do so between sunset and sunrise, technically, they are  
            violating the law.  Participants in races, professional  
            exhibitions, or other sanctioned events are exempt from the  
            operational requirements of HN 655.7, but no such exemption  
            exists for law enforcement or emergency personnel.  
           
          4)Transportation of Controlled Substances  : Last year Governor  
            Brown signed AB 721 (Chapter 504, Statutes of 2013) which  
            amended existing law to make the transportation of specified  
            controlled substances a felony only if the individual is  
            transporting the controlled substance for sale.  Before the  








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            bill passed the Senate, the author amended the bill to clarify  
            that AB 721 did not eliminate conspiracy as a prosecutorial  
            option. In the relevant statutes, it does not specifically  
            state that someone can be prosecuted as an accessory to the  
            offense.  This bill specifies that AB 721 does not limit the  
            prosecution of a person acting as an accessory to the  
            underlying crime. 
           
          5)Deletion of Reference to the Violent Crime Information  
            Network  : California Penal Code section 290.012, subdivision  
            (d) specifies that sex offender registration information shall  
            be submitted to the Department of Justice, Violent Crime  
            Information Network (VCIN).  In August of 2010, in accordance  
            with PC section 290.022, the VCIN was replaced with the  
            California Sex and Arson Registry as the State's repository  
            for sex and arson registration information.  As such, Penal  
            Code section 290.012, subdivision (d) currently mandates law  
            enforcement agencies to submit information to a system that no  
            longer exists.
           
          6)Previous Legislation  : 
           
              a)   SB 514 (Committee on Public Safety), Chapter 59,  
               Statutes of 2013, was the annual 2013 Public Safety  
               Committee's omnibus bill.  
              
             b)   SB 1144 (Strickland), Chapter 867, Statutes of 2012, was  
               the annual 2012 Public Safety Committee's omnibus bill.

             a)   SB 428 (Strickland), Chapter 304, Statutes of 2011, was  
               the annual 2011 Public Safety Committee's omnibus bill.

             b)   SB 1062 (Strickland), Chapter 708, Statutes of 2010, was  
               the annual 2010 Public Safety Committee's omnibus bill.

             c)   SB 174 (Strickland), Chapter 35, Statutes of 2009, was  
               the annual 2009 Public Safety Committee's omnibus bill.

             d)   SB 1241 (Margett), Chapter 699, Statutes of 2008, was  
               the annual 2008 Public Safety Committee's omnibus bill.

             e)   SB 425 (Margett), Chapter 302, Statutes of 2007, was the  
               annual 2007 Public Safety Committee's omnibus bill.

             f)   SB 1422 (Margett), Chapter 901, Statutes of 2006, was  








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               the annual 2006 Public Safety Committee's omnibus bill.

             g)   SB 1107 (Senate Committee on Public Safety), Chapter  
               279, Statutes of 2005, was the annual 2005 Public Safety  
               Committee's omnibus bill.

             h)   SB 1796 (Senate Committee on Public Safety), Chapter  
               405, Statutes of 2004, was the annual 2004 Public Safety  
               Committee's omnibus bill.

             i)   SB 851 (Senate Committee on Public Safety), Chapter 468,  
               Statutes of 2003, was the annual 2003 Public Safety  
               Committee's omnibus bill.

             j)   SB 1852 (Senate Committee on Public Safety), Chapter  
               545, Statutes of 2002, was the annual 2002 Public Safety  
               Committee's omnibus bill.

             aa)  SB 485 (Senate Committee on Public Safety), Chapter 473,  
               Statutes of 2001, was the annual 2001 Public Safety  
               Committee's omnibus bill.

             bb)  SB 832 (Senate Committee on Public Safety), Chapter 853,  
               Statutes of 1999, was the annual 1999 Public Safety  
               Committee's omnibus bill.

             cc)  SB 1880 (Senate Committee on Public Safety), Chapter  
               606, Statutes of 1998, was the annual 1998 Public Safety  
               Committee's omnibus bill.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support 
           
            California State Sheriffs' Association

           Opposition 
           
          None

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 












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