BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 630| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- CONSENT Bill No: AB 630 Author: Linder (R) Amended: 7/1/15 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 7-0, 7/8/15 AYES: Hertzberg, Nguyen, Beall, Hernandez, Lara, Moorlach, Pavley SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/14/15 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Public officers and employees: oath of office SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill authorizes a county board of supervisors to require the filing of a new oath of office in specified instances. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Requires members of the Legislature and all other public officers and employees of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches to take an oath (or affirmation) to protect and defend the Constitutions of the United States and of the State of California, and to faithfully discharge the duties upon which they are about to enter. 2)Makes violating an oath or affirmation a crime. AB 630 Page 2 3)Requires these oaths to be kept on file at the clerk's office, and this information is subject to the California Public Records Act. 4)Does not require a county officer to take a new oath in the event that the officer changes his or her name, title, department, or delegated authority. This bill: 1)Authorizes a county board of supervisors to require a new oath or affirmation to be filed within 10 days of a legal change in name, delegated authority, or department by: Every elected or appointed officer or department head of that county; Every disaster service worker of that county; and, Every appointed deputy of that county. 1)Allows a county to maintain a record of each person required to file a new oath of office, indicating whether or not the person has complied. This bill specifies that those records are subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act. 2)Specifies that the powers of an appointed officer of a county are no longer granted upon the officer's departure from office, and authorizes a county board of supervisors 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. 3)Makes additional changes to current law, specifically by adding "clerk of the court" to the categories of county officers required to file a copy of his or her official oath, signed with his or her own proper signature, with the Secretary of State as soon as he or she has taken and subscribed his or her oath. 4)Provides that the failure to file a new oath of office required by a board of supervisors pursuant to this bill's AB 630 Page 3 provisions is not punishable as a crime. Background State law requires members of the Legislature and all other public officers and employees of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches to take an oath (or affirmation). County clerks are responsible for keeping records documenting oaths taken by most county officers. State law requires these oaths to be kept on file at the clerk's office, and this information is subject to the California Public Records Act. However, current law does not require a county officer to take a new oath in the event that the officer changes his or her name, title, department, or delegated authority. In such cases, counties are sometimes left with outdated information on file as to who occupies what public office-a situation which can impede counties' responses to public requests for information. Similarly, if a county officer's delegated authority changes, state law does not explicitly require his or her old authority to be rescinded. County clerks and election officials propose changing state law to allow county boards of supervisors to require a new oath be filed for county officers, department heads, disaster service workers, and appointed deputies who change their names, delegated authority, or department while in public office. Furthermore, clerks and election officials suggest amending current law to clarify that an appointed county officer's powers are rescinded when he or she leaves office. Comments 1)Purpose of the bill. Current law does not require a county officer to file a new oath in the event of a name, title, or department change. This situation leaves counties with outdated information on file that is often untraceable to current staff due to movement between offices, name changes due to marriage, divorce, or other reasons. When members of the public 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, are not able AB 630 Page 4 to comply with the request at all. 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. State law already requires a notary public who legally changes his or her name change to submit an application to the Secretary of State to amend their commission and file a new oath with the Secretary of State. This practice makes sense from a policy perspective, since it is in the public interest that public records accurately reflect the legal names, titles, and duties of individuals performing public functions. AB 630 would further this purpose by enabling counties to compel their officers, disaster workers, and deputies to update their oaths in a similar manner to notaries public in the event of a change of name, title, department, or delegated authority. 2)Not a crime. State law makes it a crime, punishable by imprisonment for up to four years, to knowingly make a false statement of material fact while taking an oath of office, or to take an oath of office and subsequently advocate for the violent overthrow of the United States government. To avoid exposing some county officers, deputies, and disaster service workers to criminal liability for failing to update their oaths. The July 1 amendments to this bill clarify that no one can be subject to prosecution under AB 630 for failure to update his or her oath due to a legal change in name, delegated authority, or department. 3)Mandate. Because AB 630 would result in more people taking an oath of office-the violation of which is a crime-the Legislative Counsel's Office says that this bill expands the scope of an existing crime and therefore imposes a state-mandated local program. But the bill disclaims the state's responsibility for reimbursing counties for compliance with AB 630. This disclaimer is consistent with the California Constitution, which provides that the state does not have to reimburse local governments for the costs of new crimes (Article XIIIB, 6[a] [2]). FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: Yes AB 630 Page 5 SUPPORT: (Verified8/19/15) California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials OPPOSITION: (Verified8/19/15) None received ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/14/15 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins NO VOTE RECORDED: Linder, Medina Prepared by:Toren Lewis / GOV. & F. / (916) 651-4119 8/19/15 20:50:06 **** END ****