BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 989|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 989
Author: Cooper (D), et al.
Amended: 9/2/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/23/15
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 4/23/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Juveniles: sealing of records
SOURCE: Chief Probation Officers of California
State Coalition of Probation Organizations
DIGEST: This bill provides limited access to otherwise sealed
juvenile records to district attorneys and probation
departments, as specified.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/2/15 (1) add language allowing
non-identifying and limited access to otherwise sealed juvenile
records for purposes relating to data collection or reporting,
as specified; (2) ensure that restitution, fines and fees
continue to be enforceable notwithstanding a sealed record, as
specified; and (3) add technical, non-substantive
double-jointing amendments to avoid chaptering problems with AB
666 (Stone).
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
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1)Provides 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.
(Welf. & Inst. Code, § 781, subd. (a).)
2)States 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. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 781, subd.
(a).)
3)Prohibits, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
court from ordering a person's records sealed in any case in
which the person has been found to have committed an offense
listed in Section 707(b), which are offenses for which certain
minors could be tried in adult court under specified
circumstances. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 781, subd. (a).)
4)Permits the court to access a file that has been sealed for
the limited purpose of verifying the prior jurisdictional
status of the ward who is petitioning the court to resume its
jurisdiction, as specified. This access is not to be deemed
an unsealing of the records. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 781,
subd. (e).)
5)Allows a judge of the juvenile court in which a petition was
filed to dismiss the petition, or to set aside the findings
and dismiss the petition, if the court finds that the
interests of justice and the welfare of the person who is the
subject of the petition require that dismissal, or if it finds
that he or she is not in need of treatment or rehabilitation.
The court has jurisdiction to order dismissal or setting aside
of the findings and dismissal regardless of whether the person
who is the subject of the petition is, at the time of the
order, a ward or dependent child of the court. (Welf. & Inst.
Code, § 782.)
6)States that any person who was under the age of 18 when he or
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Page 3
she was arrested for a misdemeanor may petition the court in
which the proceedings occurred or, if there were no court
proceedings, the court in whose jurisdiction the arrest
occurred, for an order sealing the records in the case,
including any records of arrest and detention, in certain
circumstances. (Pen. Code, § 851.7.)
7)Provides that a person who was under the age of 18 at the time
of commission of a misdemeanor and is eligible for, or has
previously received expungement relief, may petition the court
for an order sealing the record of conviction and other
official records in the case, including arrest records and
records relating to other offenses charged in the accusatory
pleading, whether the defendant was acquitted, or the charges
dismissed. Thereafter the conviction, arrest, or other
proceeding shall be deemed not to have occurred, and the
petitioner may answer accordingly any question relating to
their occurrence. (Pen. Code, § 1203.45, subd. (a).)
8)Provides that, if a minor satisfactorily completes an informal
program of supervision, probation as specified, or a term of
probation for any offense other than a specified serious,
sexual, or violent offense, then the court shall order sealed
all records pertaining to that dismissed petition in the
custody of the juvenile court, except that the prosecuting
attorney and the probation department of any county shall have
access to these records after they are sealed for the limited
purpose of determining whether the minor is eligible for
deferred entry of judgment. The court may access a file that
has been sealed pursuant to this section for the limited
purpose of verifying the prior jurisdictional status of a ward
who is petitioning the court to resume its jurisdiction. This
access shall not be deemed an unsealing of the record and
shall not require notice to any other entity. (Welf. & Inst.
Code, § 786.)
This bill recasts this statute, and adds the following
provisions:
1)Authorizes the prosecuting attorney and the probation
department of any county access to the records to determine if
the minor is eligible for informal supervision, as specified.
2)Provides that if a new petition has been filed against the
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minor for a felony offense, the probation department of any
county shall have access to the records for the limited
purpose of identifying the minor's previous court-ordered
programs or placements, and in that event solely to determine
the individual's eligibility or suitability for remedial
programs or services. The information obtained pursuant to
this paragraph shall not be disseminated to other agencies or
individuals, except as necessary to implement a referral to a
remedial program or service, and shall not be used to support
the imposition of penalties, detention, or other sanctions
upon the minor.
3)Provides that the probation department of any county may
access the records for the limited purpose of meeting federal
Title IV-B and IV-E compliance;
4)Allows law enforcement, including probation, a court or other
local agency having custody of a sealed record to access an
otherwise sealed juvenile record to comply with data
collection or data reporting requirements in other laws,
providing that personal identifying information from a sealed
record accessed pursuant to this provision would not be
disclosed, as specified.
5)Includes language to ensure that restitution orders, fines and
fees continue to be enforceable notwithstanding a sealed
juvenile record, as specified.
6)Includes technical double-jointing amendments to avoid
chaptering problems with AB 666 (Stone).
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified9/3/15)
Chief Probation Officers of California (co-source)
State Coalition of Probation Organizations (co-source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
Association of Probation Supervisors
California District Attorneys Association
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California Probation, Parole and Correctional Association
California State Lodge, Fraternal Order of Police
County of San Diego
Fraternal Order of Police
Kern County Probation Officers Association
Long Beach Police Officers Association
Los Angeles County Probation Officers Union
Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association
Los Angeles Police Protective League
Monterey County Probation Association
Orange County Employees Association
Riverside Sheriffs' Association
Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs' Association
Sacramento County Probation Association
San Francisco Deputy Probation Officers' Association
San Joaquin Probation Officers Association
San Mateo County Probation and Detention Association
Santa Ana Police Officers Association
Santa Clara County Probation Peace Officers' Union
Shasta County Professional Peace Officers Association
Ventura County Professional Peace Officers' Association
OPPOSITION: (Verified9/3/15)
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Supporters state in part:
(Under current law), if a juvenile has completed his/her
term of probation, and is subsequently arrested as a
minor, probation officers are prohibited from accessing
all files, including their own department's files, for
any purpose. As a result, without access to earlier
files, the probation officer has no ability to determine
the proper course of action as it pertains to placement
and/or rehabilitative placement. This prohibition also
inhibits the probation officer's ability to provide a
comprehensive dispositional report to the court.
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This bill will grant probation officers limited access to
juvenile files, in case of a subsequent arrest of a
juvenile, in order to inform the probation officer's
recommendation for rehabilitation program referral,
risk-needs assessments, and other placements.
This clean up legislation is vital for the proper
performance of probation officer duties as it pertains to
re-offender juveniles. . . .
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: Legal Services for Prisoners with
Children, which opposes this bill, states in part:
California's confidentiality laws are intended to protect
children from present and future adverse consequences and
unnecessary emotional harm. Juvenile courts are intended
to have exclusive authority in determining whether a
juvenile record is to be shared. Under current law,
entities must petition the court to obtain someone's
confidential juvenile records. This process gives the
defending party an opportunity to contest the sharing of
information that may be detrimental to his or her
rehabilitation and best interests.
AB 989 would add a new subsection (b)(3) to Welfare and
Institutions Code Section 786 to grant probation
departments access to sealed juvenile records, for the
limited purpose of determining program referrals. This
proposal is unnecessary because district attorneys
already make informed decisions to refer young defendants
to programs, regardless of probation records. District
attorneys already have access to sealed juvenile records
to decide eligibility for deferred entry of judgment.
Additionally, we are concerned that it will be difficult
to limit access to this stated "limited purpose," and
difficult to know whether access was limited in this
fashion or whether probation officers used this
information for other purposes.
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 4/23/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, 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, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Salas
Prepared by:Alison Anderson / PUB. S. /
9/3/15 18:40:01
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