BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 293
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
293 (Levine)
As Amended June 1, 2015
2/3 vote. Urgency
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|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(April 9, |SENATE: |39-0 |(July 6, 2015) |
| | |2015) | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
SUMMARY: Requires the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) to establish a statewide policy on
operational procedures for the handling of threats made by inmates
or wards, and by family members of inmates or wards, against CDCR
staff.
The Senate amendments:
1)Apply this bill's provisions to juvenile offenders in the
custody of CDCR or family members of juvenile offenders.
2)Add an urgency clause.
3)Require the policy to be fully implemented by July 1, 2016.
AB 293
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EXISTING LAW:
1)Creates in state government CDCR, to be headed by a secretary,
who shall be appointed by the Governor, subject to Senate
confirmation, and shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor.
CDCR shall consist of Adult Operations, Adult Programs, Health
Care Services, Juvenile Justice, the Board of Parole Hearings,
the State Commission on Juvenile Justice, the Prison Industry
Authority, and the Prison Industry Board.
2)States that no state agency shall issue, utilize, enforce, or
attempt to enforce any guideline, criterion, bulletin, manual,
instruction, order, standard of general application, or other
rule, which is a regulation as defined, unless the guideline,
criterion, bulletin, manual, instruction, order, standard of
general application, or other rule has been adopted as a
regulation and filed with the Secretary of State.
3)States that whenever by the express or implied terms of any
statute a state agency has authority to adopt regulations to
implement, interpret, make specific or otherwise carry out the
provisions of the statute, no regulation adopted is valid or
effective unless consistent and not in conflict with the statute
and reasonably necessary to effectuate the purpose of the
statute.
4)Authorizes the Director of CDCR to prescribe and amend rules and
regulations for the administration of the prisons and the
administration of the parole of persons, except as specified.
All rules and regulations shall, to the extent practical, be
stated in language that is easily understood by the general
public.
5)Provides that the director of CDCR shall require each state
prison under the department's jurisdiction to develop a Mutual
AB 293
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Aid Escape Pursuit Plan and Agreement with local law enforcement
agencies. The plan, together with any supporting information,
shall be submitted for annual review to the city council of the
city containing, or nearest to, the institution and to the
county board of supervisors of the county containing the prison.
Nothing in this section shall require the department to
disclose any information which may threaten the security of an
institution or the safety of the surrounding community.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY, this bill:
1)Stated that the policy shall include methods to ensure that CDCR
staff members are advised of threats made against them by
inmates or their family members.
2)Required all threats against CDCR staff made by inmates or their
family members to be thoroughly investigated.
3)Provided that a copy of the statewide policy shall be accessible
to members of the public upon request.
4)Specified that that the provisions of this bill do not prohibit
an individual institution within CDCR from developing a more
detailed notification procedure for advising staff members of
threats made against them.
5)Provided if an individual institution has a more detailed
policy, the policy shall be accessible to every member of the
staff of the institution.
6)Mandated CDCR to provide training on the policy developed
pursuant to the provisions of this bill as part of its existing
training programs.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations Committee,
pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
AB 293
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COMMENTS: According to the author, "AB 293 will require the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to establish
statewide guidelines for investigating death threats against the
women and men who work in California's correctional facilities."
Analysis Prepared by:
Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN:
0001096