BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 630 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 22, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT Maienschein, Chair AB 630 (Linder) - As Amended March 26, 2015 SUBJECT: Local government: counties: board of supervisors. SUMMARY: Allows a county board of supervisors to require the filing of a new oath of office, in specified instances. Specifically, this bill: 1)Allows, in its discretion, the board of supervisors of a county to require the following categories of employees of that county, if an employee within that category has legally changed his or her name, delegated authority, or department, within 10 days from the date of the change, to file a new oath of office in the same manner as the original filing: a) Every elected or appointed officer or department head of that county; b) Every disaster service worker of that county; and, c) Every appointed deputy of that county. AB 630 Page 2 2)Specifies that the powers of an appointed officer of a county are no longer granted upon the officer's departure from office. 3)Allows, in its discretion, the board of supervisors of a county to require the appointing authority to rescind these powers in writing by filing a revocation in the same manner as the oath of office was filed. 4)States that no reimbursement is required by the bill's provisions because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of existing law, or changes the definition of a crime, as specified. 5)Deletes the term "county clerk" and replaces it with "clerk of the court." EXISTING LAW requires, pursuant to the California Constitution, Members of the Legislature, and all public officers and employees, to take and subscribe a specified oath of office or affirmation, and requires the oath, after being administered to specified types of local officials or appointees of a county, to be filed in designated officers. FISCAL EFFECT: This bill is keyed fiscal and contains a state-mandated local program. COMMENTS: AB 630 Page 3 1)Bill Summary. This bill allows a county board of supervisors to require a new oath or affirmation to be filed within 10 days of a county employee changing, his or her name, delegated authority, or department, and would apply to every elected or appointed county officer or department head, disaster service worker, and county appointed deputy. AB 630 also allows a county board of supervisors to require an appointing authority to file a revocation with the county clerk in the event of an officer's departure from office, thus giving notice to the county clerk when an elected or appointed officer leaves office so that the records can be updated. This bill is sponsored by the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials (CACEO). 2)Author's Statement. According to the author, "AB 630 attempts to update and clarify existing law in regards to the filing of required oaths for public office at the county level. Under current law, a loyalty oath is administered by the county clerk and is retained on file as public record for that local official and must be presented upon request according to the California Public Records Act. "Current law does not require the filing of a new oath in the event of a name, title, or department change. The existing process has left counties with outdated information on file that is often untraceable to current staff based on movement between offices or name change due to marriage, divorce, or other reasons. When members of the public question the validity of their county officials and request evidence of mandated oaths, county clerks either spend an unnecessary amount of time tracking people down based on outdated names, or in most cases, they are not able to comply with the request at all. AB 630 Page 4 "AB 630 is a transparency measure that will help counties provide the public with current and accurate public record information in a timely manner by expediting public record searches for public and county clerk staff. AB 630 specifies that the county board of supervisors would determine whether to enforce the requirement "at their discretion." In addition to authorizing the county board of supervisors to require the refiling of oaths, AB 630 clarifies the revocation requirements when an elected or appointed officer leaves offices. It would be up to the county board of supervisors whether or not to require the appointing authority to file a revocation with the county clerk in the event of an officer's departure from office. This will give notice to the county clerk when an elected or appointed officer leaves office so that he/she can update the records." 3)New Crime. Since violating an oath or affirmation is a crime, Legislative Counsel has tagged this bill as a state-mandated local program because the bill would expand the scope of an existing crime. The bill states that no reimbursement is necessary because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency will be incurred because the bill creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or information, or changes the definition of a crime, as specified. 4)Technical Amendment. One provision in the bill strikes the term "county clerk" and replaces it with "clerk of the court." AB 630 Page 5 However, according to the Secretary of State's Office, some counties have both a recorder and a clerk who submit oath-related documentation to their office, and the deletion of the term "county clerk" would inadvertently delete the authority of county clerks to have the oath filing requirement. In order to correct this issue, the term "county clerk" should be inserted back into Section 1 of the bill, as follows: (3) Each judge of a superior court, county clerk, clerk of the court, the executive officer or court administrator of the superior court, and the recorder shall file a copy of his or her official oath, signed with his or her own proper signature, in the office of the Secretary of State as soon as he or she has taken and subscribed his or her oath. 5)Arguments in Support. CACEO, the sponsor, notes that they "identified a shortcoming in the law that was silent on whether public officials and deputies were required to submit updated oaths in the event of name change, department change or delegation of duties to other individuals. The existing process left the county with outdated information on file that was often untraceable to current staff based on movement between offices or name change due to marriage, divorce, or other reasons." 6)Arguments in Opposition. None on file. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: AB 630 Page 6 Support California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials [SPONSOR] Opposition None on file Analysis Prepared by: Debbie Michel/L. GOV./(916) 319-3958