BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 538 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 20, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 538 (Campos) - As Amended May 13, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Judiciary |Vote:|10 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill allows victims of specified felonies to be notified that the person who committed the felony has entered into a contract for the sale of the story of the crime, and extends by five years (from ten to 15 years) the statute of limitations to AB 538 Page 2 file a civil action for damages against the person convicted of the felony. Specifically, this bill: 1)Provides that any person or entity that enters into a financial contract with a criminal offender for the sale of the story of a crime for which the offender was convicted shall notify the Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Services (OVS) within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) that the parties have entered into such a contract, if the following are true: a) A crime that is the basis of the story sold under the contract is specified in Code of Civil Procedure Section 340.3(b) and resulted in the felony conviction of the offender. b) An action for damages against the offender is allowed to be commenced pursuant to Section 340.3(b) of the Code of Civil Procedure. 2)Requires OVS to notify the victim and members of the victim's immediate family, as defined, that it has received notification that a contract has been entered into for the sale of the offender's story, if the victim or immediate family member has previously requested to receive notifications provided by OVS. FISCAL EFFECT: Negligible fiscal impact for OVS to provide the required notifications, which will likely be minimal. COMMENTS: AB 538 Page 3 Background and Purpose. Currently, crime victims, their family members, and certain witnesses in a criminal matter may fill out a form (known as the "CDCR 1707 form") to provide their contact information to OVS and request that OVS notify them in the case of certain future events related to a particular criminal offender. For example, the current CDCR 1707 form allows a person to be notified of the release, escape, or death of the offender; a criminal appeal by the offender; the parole hearing date for an offender sentenced to life imprisonment; and the scheduled execution of an offender sentenced to death. The form is also used to inform OVS about the existence of a restitution order, as well as any request for special conditions of parole or community supervision when the offender is released from incarceration. According to the author, this bill would simply require OVS to modify its current victim notification process to provide notification of an additional event related to the criminal offender-namely, a contractual relationship with another party for the sale of the story of the crime for which he or she was convicted. Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 AB 538 Page 4