BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 1461 Page 1 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 : SB 1461 Page 2 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).) SB 1461 Page 3 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). SB 1461 Page 4 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 SB 1461 Page 5 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 SB 1461 Page 6 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 SB 1461 Page 7