BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1213
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Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
1213 (Wagner) - As Introduced February 27, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill would require the Department of Justice (DOJ) to
establish an Offender Global Positioning System (GPS) Database
that would receive and store GPS device data for offenders
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monitored by criminal justice agencies throughout the state. The
database would be required, among other capabilities, to receive
specified data and to be able to send commands to a GPS device
requiring the device to report data and to comply with other
functional requirements. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires DOJ to implement, operate, and maintain the Offender
GPS Database for the use of criminal justice agencies.
2)Requires, by an unspecified date, DOJ to develop functional
specifications and standards for offender GPS devices such
that a GPS device will transmit GPS data information to the
database at a specified reporting cycle. The GPS data
information transmitted to the database will be required to
include specific data elements. And requires, also by an
unspecified date, DOJ to develop functional specifications and
standards for the database in compliance with the specific
objectives.
3)Requires DOJ to consult with specific entities and groups when
developing the functional specifications and standards as
specified.
4)States that criminal justice agencies that use GPS devices for
monitoring offenders have the ability to select from different
manufacturers and vendors, in accordance with any contracting
policies, rules, and regulations governing their authority to
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contract for those services. However, this bill specifies
that, except as provided, a GPS device purchased or used for
GPS monitoring of offenders in this state will be required to
comply with the functional specifications and standards
developed by DOJ.
5)States that any GPS devices purchased and used to monitor
offenders pursuant to a contract entered into before an
unspecified date are exempted from data requirements.
6)Requires that on a triennial basis, following implementation
of the functional specifications and standards for GPS devices
and the database, the DOJ shall consult with the specified
entities and groups, to determine if there are any
improvements to the functional specifications and standards
for GPS devices and the database needed to meet the needs of
law enforcement and to take advantage of advancements in GPS
monitoring. The database is required to be designed to
accommodate present and future data-processing equipment.
7)States that DOJ is required to provide, at state expense,
connections to the database to one sheriff's system and one
probation department system in each county, hereinafter the
"county systems." Before providing the county systems with
connections to the database, the DOJ is required to adopt and
publish for distribution, the operating policies, practices,
and procedures for the database, and the security requirements
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for county systems connecting to the database.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Significant costs to the DOJ in the $40 million range (GF).
2)Potential reimbursable state mandated costs in the hundreds of
thousands of dollars (GF) by requiring local law enforcement
agencies's future GPS purchases to comply with functional
specifications and standards yet to be develop by the DOJ.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, "AB 1213 establishes the
California Offender Global Positioning System Database so that
criminal justice agencies can better scrutinize the location
and possible interactions of offenders wearing court-ordered
GPS monitoring devices."
"A GPS database that can be accessed by criminal justice
agencies will enhance supervision practices, promote
rehabilitative services, assist investigations and ensure
offender accountability and community safety."
2)Background. Current law allows the Board of Parole Hearings,
the court, or the supervising parole authority to require, as
a condition of release on parole or reinstatement on parole,
or as an intermediate sanction in lieu of return to custody,
that an inmate or parolee agree in writing to the use of
electronic monitoring or supervising devices for the purpose
of helping to verify his or her compliance with all other
conditions of parole.
California Proposition 83, better known as Jessica's Law, was
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passed by voters in 2006. The provisions of this law mandate
that all sex offenders released on parole be placed on GPS
supervision for life and made California Department of
Correction and Rehabilitation (CDCR) parole agents responsible
for enforcing the terms and conditions of Jessica's Law while
a parolee is under the state's jurisdiction. CDCR was also
charged with the responsibility of implementing this program.
With a limited amount of GPS units, CDCR prioritized its High
Risk Sex Offender (HRSO) population of approximately 2,500 on
parole to be equipped with ankle monitors first. This first
phase was completed in April 2008. CDCR completed the
implementation of the program in December 2008 (6 months ahead
of schedule) by equipping another 2,300 non- HRSOs with GPS
monitoring units, bringing the total to 4,800. This figure
nearly triples the 1,800 GPS units used by Florida, the
second-leading state to use the devices. As of August 2011,
there were 9,912 sex offenders on parole in California (9
percent of all parolees under the jurisdiction of the CDCR).
Roughly 7,022 of these sex offenders were living in the
community, and 6,968 (99.2 percent) were monitored by GPS
technology.
GPS Tracking in California other than Sex Offenders. Counties
throughout the state are using GPS monitoring at the local
level for individuals on probation, pretrial release, or
mandatory supervision. Last year, then-L.A. County Sheriff
Lee Baca solicited bids from GPS tracking companies to monitor
as many as 3,000 offenders released from jail, while the
county Probation Department is using GPS to track hundreds of
felons released from prison. Riverside County has approved $1
million to monitor up to 600 criminals.
3)Argument in Support. According to The Orange County Board of
Supervisors, "The County fully endorses the goal of this bill
to require data-sharing among local and state GPS monitoring
systems to better scrutinize the interactions of offenders
required to wear the devices. Assuring that specific data is
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provided to a state clearinghouse will ensure enhanced public
safety and quicker access to crucial investigative
information.
4)Argument in Opposition: According to The American Civil
Liberties Union of California, "Law enforcement agencies are
already struggling to keep up with the GPS data they currently
receive, and it seems ill-advised to add to their burden. As
a recent Los Angeles Time article explained, "agents are
drowning in a flood of meaningless data, masking alarms that
would signal real danger." Increasing the amount of data
local law enforcement agents are expected to track would only
further drown them, and without clear returns. California law
enforcement officers have also been grappling with the flaws
and limitations of GPS technology itself - which have included
dead batteries, cracked cases, and reported locations being
off by as much as three miles. Until these problems are
resolved, it makes little sense to divert resources into
creating a statewide database.
5)Prior Legislation: SB 57 (Lieu), Chapter 776, Statutes of
2013, prohibits a person who is required to register as a sex
offender and who is subject to parole supervision from
removing, as specified, an electronic, GPS, or other
monitoring device affixed as a condition of parole. Upon a
violation of the provision, the bill would require the parole
authority to revoke the person's parole and impose a
mandatory, 180-day period of incarceration
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro R. Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
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