BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 666
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
666 (Mark Stone) - As Amended April 9, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill requires records in the custody of law enforcement
agencies, the probation department, or any other public agency
having records pertaining to the case, to also be sealed, in a
AB 666
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case where a court has ordered a juvenile's records to be
sealed, as specified. It also requires the Judicial Council to
adopt rules of court and make available appropriate forms
providing for the standardized implementation of this section by
the juvenile courts.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Minor absorbable costs to the Judicial Council to adopt the
required rules of court.
Minor, potential reimbursable mandated costs to local agencies
to seal the specified juvenile records.
COMMENTS:
1)Background. Current law provides, with some exceptions, that
five years or more after the jurisdiction of the juvenile
court has terminated over a person adjudged a ward of the
court or after a minor appeared before a probation officer,
or, in any case, at any time after the person has reached the
age of 18, the person or county probation officer, with
specified exceptions, may petition the juvenile court for
sealing of the records, including arrest records relating to
the person's case, in the custody of the juvenile court, the
probation officer, or any other agency or public official.
Current law also specifies that once the court has ordered the
person's records sealed, the proceedings in the case shall be
deemed never to have occurred, and the person may reply
accordingly to any inquiry about the events. However, current
law does not require the court to order records sealed in the
possession of other public agencies such as law enforcement or
probation.
2)Purpose. According to the author, "AB 666 is an important
AB 666
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measure that can reduce recidivism and open doors to jobs and
education for many of California youth. The goal is to open
pathways to college and jobs for justice-involved youth whose
criminal records and histories stand in the way of employment
and other re-entry opportunities. SB 1038 (Leno, 2014)
revised the central policy and process for the sealing and
dismissal of charges in non-violent juvenile delinquency
cases. However, in the past few months experience in the
courts has revealed implementation concerns. If passed, AB
666 will provide for statewide standards for the courts and
ensure access of youth to jobs and higher education."
3)Argument in Support: According to Commonweal, the sponsor of
this bill, "SB 1038 requires the Juvenile Court to seal the
court records and to dismiss the petition in delinquency cases
where the minor has satisfactorily completed probation or a
program of informal probation supervision. Sealing and
dismissal under Section 786 are intended to be automatic
(court-initiated), as an alternative to the existing,
cumbersome and costly petition process that is so little
utilized and largely inaccessible by former juvenile
offenders. "
4)Argument in Opposition: According to the California District
Attorneys Association, "In determining what 'care, treatment,
and guidance' is best for a minor, a simple rule of thumb
applies (and is articulated throughout the W&I code) - the
more information the court and other involved agencies have,
the more likely the juvenile justice system as a whole will be
able to tailor the services provided to the minor to ensure
that those services address the minor's specific needs.
Restricting access to potentially important information about
a minor's prior contact with law enforcement or the juvenile
justice system in this manner is tantamount to telling a
diagnosing physician that she cannot consider a patient's
entire medical record in determining a treatment plan.
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5)Related Legislation: AB 989 (Cooper), pending in this
commitee, would authorize the probation department of any
county to access a minor's sealed records for the limited
purposes of determining a minor's prior program referrals and
risk-needs assessments.
6)Prior Legislation:
a) SB 1038 (Leno), Chapter 249, Statutes of 2014, provides
for the automatic dismissal of juvenile petitions and
sealing of records when a juvenile offender successfully
completes probation.
b) AB 1756 (Skinner), of the 2013-2014 Legislative Session,
would have provided that only a person 26 years of age or
older may be charged a fee for petitioning the court for an
order sealing his or her juvenile record. AB 1756 was held
on the Senate Committee on Appropriation's Suspense File.
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro R. Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081