BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1672 (Mathis) - Veterans treatment courts: Judicial Council
assessment and survey
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|Version: August 1, 2016 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 7 - 0, |
| | V.A. 5 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: This bill would require the Judicial Council to, on or
before June 1, 2019, report to the Legislature on a study of
veterans and veterans treatment courts, as specified. This bill
would appropriate $100,000 from the General Fund and $100,000
from the Veterans Court Assessment (VCA) Fund, which is created
in this bill, to conduct the study and report to the
Legislature.
Fiscal
Impact: One-time cost to the Judicial Council of $200,000 to
complete the study and report, to be funded as follows:
General Fund appropriation : $100,000, included in this bill.
VCA Fund appropriation : $100,000, included in this bill. The
VCA Fund is newly created in this bill to accept private
donations from entities and individuals, to be deposited into
the VCA Fund. Staff notes the timing of the availability of
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funding from the VCA Fund sufficient to enable the mandated
$100,000 appropriation is unknown. As a result, it is unclear
whether the Judicial Council would be able to meet the
reporting timeframe specified in this measure. Additionally,
the mandate to conduct the study and report to the Legislature
is predicated on the receipt of funds, but not specific to the
receipt of the full $200,000 necessary to sufficiently fund
the workload.
Background: As noted in the Background section of the Senate Public Safety
Committee analysis of this measure:
Under California law, every court has the authority to make
rules for its own government. This is an inherent power of the
courts, but this power has also been codified in the Government
Code. This power is limited only by any conflict with the
California Constitution, statute or rules adopted by the
Judicial Council of California.
Nothing in California's Constitution or statutes prohibits or
requires the development of veterans' courts. However, under the
Penal Code, courts are required to identify veteran defendants
suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain
injury, and other issues for purposes of sentencing. For this
and other reasons, the Judicial Council has encouraged the
development of veterans' courts.
The Judicial Council has authority under the California
Constitution to make rules governing California courts and to
make recommendations to the Legislature and Governor regarding
the operation of the courts. Under this authority, the Judicial
Council created the Collaborative Justice Court Advisory
Committee to make recommendations to the Judicial Council on
criteria for identifying and evaluating collaborative justice
courts and for improving the processing of cases in these
courts, which include drug courts, domestic violence courts,
youth courts, community courts, veterans' courts and other
collaborative justice courts. Currently, at least 12 counties in
California have established veterans' courts and two have
established community courts.
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Proposed Law:
This bill would require the Judicial Council to report to the
Legislature on a study of veterans and veterans treatment courts
if the Judicial Council receives funds for that purpose. This
bill requires the study to include the following:
A statewide assessment of the veterans treatment courts
currently in operation that includes the number of veteran
participants in the program, services available, and
program outcomes, including successful completion or
program terminations. The assessment shall evaluate the
impact of a sample of veterans treatment courts on
participant outcomes, including, but not limited to,
program recidivism, mental health, homelessness,
employment, social stability, and substance abuse.
A survey of counties that do not operate veterans
treatment courts that identifies barriers to program
implementation and assesses the need for veterans treatment
courts in those jurisdictions based on the veterans
services available and the estimated number of veterans
involved in the local criminal justice system. The survey
shall identify alternative resources that may be available
to veterans, such as community courts or other
collaborative justice courts.
This bill requires the Judicial Council to, on or before June 1,
2019, report to the Legislature on the results of the study. The
report shall include recommendations regarding the expansion of
veterans treatment courts or services to counties without
veterans treatment courts and shall explore the feasibility of
designing regional model veterans treatment courts through the
use of service coordination or technological resources.
Additionally, this bill:
Requires 50 percent of the funds required for the study
and report to be funded by private sources, and 50 percent
of the funds to be funded by the state, upon appropriation
by the Legislature.
Creates the Veterans Court Assessment (VCA) Fund in the
State Treasury, and provides that the VCA Fund shall be
administered by the Judicial Council. The VCA Fund may
accept private donations from entities and individuals, and
the Judicial Council shall deposit the donations into the
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fund.
Sunsets the bill's provisions on January 1, 2020.
Provides that if this act is not enacted, the Judicial
Council shall return any funds donated to the VCA Fund or
donated for the purpose of carrying out the study and
report to the entity or individual who made the donation in
an amount equal to the donation.
Appropriates $100,000 from the Veterans Court Assessment
Fund to the Judicial Council for the purpose of conducting
the study and report.
Appropriates $100,000 from the General Fund to the
Judicial Council for the purpose of conducting the study
and report.
Prior
Legislation: ACR 36 (Atkins) Resolution Chapter 39/2013
encourages all superior courts to consider establishing veterans
treatment courts and or veterans treatment review calendars to
assist troubled veterans who have service-related mental health
issues.
AB 201 (Butler) 2011 would have authorized superior courts to
develop and implement veterans' courts. This bill would have
established standards and procedures for veterans courts. This
bill was vetoed by the Governor with the following message:
I am returning Assembly Bill 201 without my signature. This
measure would authorize superior courts to establish dedicated
programs to serve eligible veterans of the United States
military. While the provisions of this bill are well-intended,
they create a clear expectation that our courts-already
struggling with painful budget cuts--will establish a new
program.
Given current budgetary constraints, the decision to adopt this
kind of program-something already within the courts'
authority--is better left to the sound discretion of the
judiciary.
AB 1925 (Salas) 2010 would have authorized superior courts to
develop and implement veterans courts for eligible veterans of
the U.S. military. This bill was vetoed by the Governor.
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Staff
Comments: This bill appropriates $100,000 from the General Fund
on a one-time basis, and additionally appropriates $100,000 from
the VCA Fund, which is newly created in this bill. The VCA Fund
is to be funded through private donations from entities and
individuals, and as a result the timing of the availability of
funding from the VCA Fund sufficient to enable the mandated
appropriation in this bill is unknown. As a result, it is
unclear whether the Judicial Council would be able to meet the
June 1, 2019, reporting deadline specified in this measure
should funds collected in the VCA Fund be insufficient to
support the $100,000 appropriation until some future date.
Recommended
Amendments: This bill creates a new fund, the VCA Fund.
Consistent with the customary practice of this Committee with
regard to the creation of new funds, staff recommends an
amendment to clarify that VCA Funds are subject to appropriation
by the Legislature.
To ensure the Judicial Council receives the full level of
funding required to support the mandated study and report to the
Legislature, staff recommends the following technical amendment:
68530. (a) If the Judicial Council receives all of the funds
specified for the purpose of implementing this section, the
Judicial Council shall report to the Legislature on a study of
veterans and veterans treatment courts that includes the
following:
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