BILL NUMBER: AB 1127	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Cooley

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to add and repeal Section 26840.12 of the Government Code,
to add and repeal Section 103628.7 of the Health and Safety Code, and
to add and repeal Section 18309.1 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, relating to domestic violence.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1127, as introduced, Cooley. Domestic and family violence:
Sacramento County.
   Existing law requires the collection of fees for issuing marriage
licenses and for providing certified copies of vital records,
including marriage certificates, birth certificates, fetal death
records, and death records. Existing law provides for the
establishment of county domestic violence program special funds for
the purpose of funding local domestic violence programs. Certain fees
payable at the time a marriage license or a certified copy of any of
the above vital records is issued may be collected by the county
clerks for deposit into these funds.
   This bill would, until January 1, 2021, authorize the Sacramento
County Board of Supervisors, upon making certain findings and
declarations, to authorize an increase in fees for marriage licenses
and confidential marriage licenses and for certified copies of
certain vital records, up to $4. This bill would further authorize
the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors to make further increases
in fees each year, as specified. This bill would require the fees to
be allocated for purposes relating to domestic and family violence
prevention, intervention, and prosecution. This bill would require
the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, by July 1, 2017, to
submit a report on funds received and expended in connection with the
fee increases, and the outcome of activities associated with the
act, to the Assembly Committee on Judiciary and the Senate Committee
on Judiciary.
   This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to
the necessity of a special statute for the County of Sacramento.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Since 2005, over 150 individuals have died in homicides
related to domestic violence. This number includes children, one as
young as two years old.
   (b) In 2013 alone, a total of 18,000 domestic violence-related
calls were reported by law enforcement entities within Sacramento
County, with over 4,000 adult cases arrested and over 2,400 cases
filed and prosecuted.
   (c) More than 21,000 crisis calls are made to the three domestic
violence shelter programs in Sacramento County every year.
   (d) Sacramento has a high rate of human trafficking, in 2013, the
FBI Human trafficking task force, in a multiday sweep involving
Sacramento, rescued the sixth highest total of underage trafficking
victims in the country.
   (e) Domestic violence is ubiquitous, it cuts across all economic
and education levels, all age groups, ethnicities, and other social
and community characteristics.
   (f) Domestic violence is insidious, it is characterized by a
predictable, repetitious cycle that can result in injury or death of
victims, including children.
   (g) Domestic violence puts children at risk. Children in homes
that domestic violence occurs are physically abused or seriously
neglected at a rate significantly higher than the national average in
the general population.
   (h) Domestic violence is learned and generational. Studies show
that boys who witness family violence are more likely to batter their
female partners as adults than boys raised in nonviolent homes.
Girls who witness their mothers' abuse have higher rates of being
battered as adults and it is often a precursor to becoming a victim
of human trafficking. Over 80 percent of victims of human trafficking
either suffered abuse in their homes or witnessed such abuse between
parents.
   (i) Substance abuse is a significant factor contributing to,
although not necessarily a cause of, domestic violence. Many domestic
violence offenders have documented histories of substance abuse or
were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time a felony
crime was committed. Over 80 percent of human trafficking victims had
parents that abused substances.
   (j) Domestic violence is costly, both in human and organizational
terms. The results of domestic violence have many hidden costs, such
as job turnover, loss of productivity, school absenteeism, low school
performance, in addition to the high cost of law enforcement, civil
and criminal justice, health services, mental health services,
substance abuse treatment, human services, and community-based
services.
   (k) The domestic violence prevention, intervention, and
prosecution system is complex and multifaceted, spanning civil,
criminal, health, and social service sectors, and in order to be
effective, there must be an alignment in the objectives, protocols,
policies, and activities of each sector.
  SEC. 2.  This act shall be known and may be cited as the Sacramento
County Zero Tolerance for Family Violence and Human Trafficking Act.

  SEC. 3.  Section 26840.12 is added to the Government Code, to read:

   26840.12.  (a) The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, upon
making findings and declarations for the need for governmental
oversight and coordination of the multiple agencies dealing with
domestic violence, may authorize an increase in the fees for marriage
licenses and confidential marriage licences, up to a maximum
increase of four dollars ($4).
   (b) Effective July 1 of each year, the Sacramento County Board of
Supervisors may authorize an increase in these fees by an amount
equal to the increase of the California Consumer Price Index for the
preceding calendar year, rounded to the nearest one-half dollar
($0.50). These fees shall be allocated pursuant to Section 18309.7 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code.
   (c) In addition to the fee prescribed by Section 26840.1, in
Sacramento County, the person issuing authorization for the
performance of a marriage or confidential marriage, or the county
clerk upon providing a blank authorization form pursuant to Part 4
(commencing with Section 500) of Division 3 of the Family Code, shall
collect the fees in subdivision (a), at the time of providing the
authorization.
   (d) The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors shall submit to the
Assembly Committee on Judiciary and the Senate Committee on
Judiciary, no later than July 1, 2017, a report containing the
following information:
   (1) The annual amounts of funds received and expended from fee
increases for the purpose of governmental oversight and coordination
of domestic violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution
efforts in the county.
   (2) Outcomes achieved as a result of the activities associated
with the Zero Tolerance for Family Violence and Human Trafficking
Act.
   (e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2021, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2021, deletes or extends
that date.
  SEC. 4.  Section 103628.7 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
   103628.7.  (a) The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, upon
making findings and declarations for the need for governmental
oversight and coordination of the multiple agencies dealing with
domestic violence, may authorize an increase in the fees for
certified copies of marriage certificates, birth certificates, fetal
death records, and death records, up to a maximum increase of two
dollars ($2).
   (b) Effective July 1 of each year, the Sacramento County Board of
Supervisors may authorize an increase in these fees by an amount
equal to the increase in the California Consumer Price Index for the
preceding calendar year, rounded to the nearest one-half dollar
($0.50). The fees shall be allocated pursuant to Section 18309.1 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code.
   (c) In addition to the fees prescribed by subdivisions (a) and
(b), any applicant for a certified copy of a birth certificate, a
fetal death record, or death record in Sacramento County shall pay an
additional fee to the local registrar, county recorder, or county
clerk as established by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.
   (d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2021, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute
that is enacted before January 1, 2021, deletes or extends that
date.
  SEC. 5.  Section 18309.1 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   18309.1.  (a) The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors shall
direct the local registrar, county recorder, and county clerk to
deposit fees collected pursuant to Section 26840.12 of the Government
Code and Section 103628.7 of the Health and Safety Code into a
special fund. The county may retain up to 4 percent of the fund for
administrative costs associated with the collection and segregation
of the additional fees and the deposit of these fees into the special
fund. Proceeds from the fund shall be used for governmental
oversight and coordination of domestic violence and family violence
prevention, intervention, and prosecution efforts among the court
system, the district attorney's office, the public defender's office,
law enforcement, the probation department, mental health, substance
abuse, child welfare services, adult protective services, and
community-based organizations and other agencies working in
Sacramento County in order to increase the effectiveness of
prevention, early intervention, and prosecution of domestic and
family violence.
   (b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2021, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute
that is enacted before January 1, 2021, deletes or extends that
date.
  SEC. 6.  The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
because of the unique circumstances of the County of Sacramento with
respect to domestic violence and human trafficking.