BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 630
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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
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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
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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
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"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
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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
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Support
California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials
[SPONSOR]
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared
by: Debbie Michel/L. GOV./(916) 319-3958