BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 222


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          Date of Hearing:  April 6, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION


                                 Jim Frazier, Chair


          AB 222  
          (Achadjian) - As Amended March 23, 2015


          SUBJECT:  Vehicle records:  confidential home address


          SUMMARY: Adds certain employees of the Department of State  
          Hospitals (DSH) and the California Department of Corrections and  
          Rehabilitation (CDCR) to the list of persons who can request  
          that their home address be held confidential by the Department  
          of Motor Vehicles (DMV).


          EXISTING LAW:


          1)Lists 23 classes of persons, primarily in law enforcement  
            fields, plus the spouses and children of those persons, that  
            may request that their home addresses be held confidential by  
            DMV.  The home addresses of these persons may only be  
            disclosed to a court; a law enforcement agency; the State  
            Board of Equalization (BOE); an attorney in a civil or  
            criminal action who demonstrates to a court the need for the  
            home address, if the disclosure is made pursuant to a  
            subpoena; and any governmental agency legally required to be  
            furnished the information.   

          2)Makes confidential the home addresses of all individuals  
            contained within DMV records.  These provisions similarly  








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            allow for disclosure to courts, law enforcement agencies, and  
            other governmental agencies, but also allow for limited  
            disclosure to financial institutions, insurance companies,  
            attorneys, vehicle manufacturers, and persons doing  
            statistical research.

          3)Grants DMV the authority to suppress all records for at least  
            one year for persons who are under threat of death or bodily  
            injury.  Under these circumstances, the entire record,  
            including the address, is rendered inaccessible.  

          FISCAL EFFECT:  Unknown


          COMMENTS:  Until 1989, DMV records were considered public  
          records unless state law specifically made them confidential, as  
          was the case for the addresses of peace officers and certain  
          other officials thought to be at risk.  Because home addresses  
          were not considered confidential, any person who gave a reason  
          that DMV deemed legitimate and could present to DMV a person's  
          driver's license number or license plate number could obtain  
          address information on that individual.


          In 1989, actress Rebecca Schaeffer was stalked and killed.  The  
          murderer obtained her address from a private investigation  
          agency doing business in Arizona.  The private investigation  
          agency acquired her address through a subcontractor agent in  
          California, who obtained it from DMV.  In response, the  
          Legislature enacted AB 1779 (Roos), Chapter 1213, Statutes of  
          1989, which made all home addresses in DMV records confidential,  
          with limited exceptions.  AB 1779 left in place existing  
          confidentiality provisions that applied only to peace officers  
          and certain other officials. The list of those to whom the  
          pre-AB 1779 confidentiality provisions apply, generally referred  
          to as the confidential records program (CRP), now includes 23  
          classes of persons.  DMV is not aware of any instances since the  
          implementation of AB 1779 where confidential home address  
          information has been used for physical harm or for violent  








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          criminal purposes.


          AB 222 proposes to add certain employees of the DSH and CDCR,  
          including psychiatric technicians, to the list of those persons  
          eligible to request that DVM hold their addresses confidential  
          via the CRP.  According to the sponsor, the California  
          Association of Psychiatric Technicians, while most employees of  
          CDCR are already eligible for the CRP, psychiatric technicians  
          are not.  In addition, DSH, which also employs psychiatric  
          technicians, treats many of the same serious and violent  
          offenders as CDCR at its facilities.  The author and sponsor  
          state that many psychiatric technicians have been threatened and  
          even stalked by paroling inmates and discharged patients, and in  
          several cases the inmate or patient was able to obtain a  
          psychiatric technician's home address. 


          Given that DMV records are universally confidential, with  
          limited exceptions, and the fact that DMV is not aware of any  
          instances since the implementation of AB 1779 in which DMV home  
          address information has been used for physical harm or for  
          violent criminal purposes, the need for this bill is unclear.   
          While it may appear that the CRP provides a greater level of  
          confidentiality than is available to the general public,  
          functionally the level of confidentiality is the same.  People  
          seeking confidential information about others generally do not  
          look to DMV records for personal data since those records are so  
          carefully protected and the same information is much more easily  
          obtainable via the internet and social media.  While there is no  
          doubt that many state employees, including psychiatric  
          technicians, work with potentially dangerous populations and  
          have faced serious threats as a result of their work, there is  
          no reason to believe adding them to the list of persons eligible  
          for the CRP will afford them a greater level of protection.


          Prior legislation: Over the past 12 years, there have been a  
          number of bills proposing to expand the list of those eligible  








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          to apply for the CRP, only one of which was chaptered,  
          including:


          AB 2687 (Bocanegra), Chapter 273, Statutes of 2014, added  
          Licensing Program Analysts with the Department of Social  
          Services to the list.


          SB 767 (Lieu) of 2014, would have added code enforcement  
          officers and would have required eligible persons requesting  
          confidentiality for their spouse or child to disclose whether  
          the spouse or child had been convicted of a crime and or was on  
          mandatory supervision or post release community supervision at  
          the time of the request for confidentiality.  SB 767 was  
          referred to this committee but was not heard at the request of  
          the author.


          AB 1270 (Eggman) of 2013, would have added code enforcement  
          officers and their spouses and children.  AB 1270 was held in  
          the Assembly Appropriations Committee on the suspense file.  

          AB 923 (Swanson) of 2009, would have added BOE members, code  
          enforcement officers, and certain veterinarians.  AB 923 was  
          held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on the suspense  
          file.  

          AB 592 (Lowenthal) of 2009, would have added BOE staff who are  
          designated to exercise limited peace officer authority and  
          duties.  AB 592 was held in the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee on the suspense file.  



          AB 1958 (Swanson) of 2008, would have added firefighters, code  
          enforcement officers, and certain veterinarians.  AB 1958 was  
          held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on the suspense  
          file.  








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          AB 1311 (Berryhill) of 2007, would have added community service  
          and public service officers employed by police departments.  AB  
          1311 was referred to this committee but was not heard at the  
          request of the author.  

          AB 1706 (Strickland) of 2005, would have added fraud  
          investigators, park rangers, emergency dispatchers, and DMV  
          employees who test new drivers.  AB 1706 was referred to this  
          committee but was not heard at the request of the author.  

          AB 2012 (Chu) of 2004, would have added court-appointed  
          attorneys, their investigators, and social workers assigned to  
          child abuse cases.  These provisions were eventually amended out  
          of the bill.  

          AB 130 (Campbell) of 2003 and AB 246 (Cox) of 2003, both bills  
          would have added members of Congress.  Both bills were referred  
          to this committee but neither was heard. 

          Other legislative efforts have aimed to address program and  
          public safety abuses associated with the CRP. For example, AB 3  
          (Miller) of 2011 and AB 2097 (Miller) of 2010 would have  
          required CRP participants to update their records in order  
          improve the ability to identify toll evaders.  AB 3 was held on  
          the suspense file in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and 


          AB 2097 was held on the suspense in the Senate Appropriations  
          Committee.  Additionally, 
          SB 938 (Huff), Chapter 280, Statutes of 2010, removed CRP  
          confidentiality protections for certain individuals who have  
          been convicted of crimes.
          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:




          Support








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          California Association of Psychiatric Technicians (Sponsor)


          California College and University Police Chiefs 




          Opposition


          None on file




          Analysis Prepared by:Anya Lawler / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093