California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1678

Introduced by Assembly Member Santiago

January 19, 2016

An act to amend Section 6228 of the Family Code, relating to domestic violence.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1678, as introduced, Santiago. Provision of incident reports to victims.

Existing law requires state and local law enforcement agencies to provide, without fee, one copy of all domestic violence incident report face sheets and one copy of all domestic violence incident reports, or both, to a victim of domestic violence or to his or her personal representative, as defined, upon request.

This bill would require the state or local law enforcement agencies to provide those reports to a victim of sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, elder abuse, or any crime in which the victim and the perpetrator are in a domestic relationship, as defined. The bill would also specifically include in the definition of “victim” a minor who is 12 years of age or older. This bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions. By increasing the duties of local law enforcement, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 6228 of the Family Code is amended to
read:

6228.  

(a) State and local law enforcement agencies shall
provide, without charging a fee, one copy of all begin delete domestic violence end delete
incident report face sheets, one copy of all begin delete domestic violence end delete
incident reports, or both, to a victim of domestic begin delete violence, end delete begin insert crime,
as defined in subdivision (f), end insert or to his or her representative as
defined in subdivision (g), upon request. begin delete For purposes of this
section, “domestic violence” has the definition given in Section
6211. end delete

(b)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert A copy of begin delete a domestic violence end delete begin insert an end insert incident report face
sheet shall be made available during regular business hours to a
victim begin delete of domestic violence end delete or his or her representative no later
than 48 hours after being requested by the victim or his or her
representative, unless the state or local law enforcement agency
informs the victim or his or her representative of the reasons why,
for good cause, the begin delete domestic violence end delete incident report face sheet
is not available, in which case the begin delete domestic violence end delete incident report
face sheet shall be made available to the victim or his or her
representative no later than five working days after the request is
made.

begin delete

(c)

end delete

begin insert (2) end insert  A copy of the begin delete domestic violence end delete incident report shall be
made available during regular business hours to a victim begin delete of
domestic violence end delete or his or her representative no later than five
working days after being requested by a victim or his or her
representative, unless the state or local law enforcement agency
informs the victim or his or her representative of the reasons why,
for good cause, the begin delete domestic violence end delete incident report is not
available, in which case the begin delete domestic violence end delete incident report shall
be made available to the victim or his or her representative no later
than 10 working days after the request is made.

begin delete

(d)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert  Any person requesting copies under this section shall present
state or local law enforcement with his or her identification, begin delete such
as end delete begin insert including end insert a current, valid driver’s license, a state-issued
identification card, or a begin delete passport and, if end delete begin insert passport. If end insert the person is
a representative of the victim and the victim is deceased, begin insert the
representative shall also present end insert a certified copy of the death
certificate or other satisfactory evidence of the death of the victim
at the time a request is made. begin insert If the person is a representative of
the victim and the victim is alive and not the subject of a
conservatorship, the representative shall also present a written
authorization, signed by the victim, making him or her the victim’s
personal representative. end insert

begin delete

(e)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  This section shall apply to requests for face sheets or begin insert incident end insert
reports made within five years from the date of completion of the
begin delete domestic violence end delete incident report.

begin delete

(f)

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert  This section shall be known and may be cited as the Access
to Domestic Violence Reports Act of 1999.

begin insert

(f) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall
apply:

end insert begin insert

(1) “Domestic crime” means domestic violence, as defined in
Section 6211, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, elder
abuse, or any crime in which the victim and the perpetrator are
in a relationship described in Section 6211.

end insert begin insert

(2) “Victim” includes a minor who is 12 years of age or older.

end insert

(g) (1) For purposes of this section, if the victim is deceased,
a “representative of the victim” means any of the following:

(A) The surviving spouse.

(B) A surviving child of the decedent who has attained 18 years
of age.

(C) A domestic partner, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section
297.

(D) A surviving parent of the decedent.

(E) A surviving adult relative.

(F) The personal representative of the victim, as defined in
Section 58 of the Probate Code, if one is appointed.

(G) The public administrator if one has been appointed.

(2) For purposes of this section, if the victim is not deceased, a
“representative of the victim” means any of the following:

(A) A parent, guardian, or adult child of the victim, or an adult
sibling of a victim 12 years of age or older, who shall present to
law enforcement identification pursuant to begin delete subparagraph (A) of
paragraph (4), and if the victim is 12 years of age or older, a signed
authorization by the victim allowing that family member or
guardian to act on the victim’s behalf. end delete begin insert subdivision (c). end insert A guardian
shall also present to law enforcement a copy of his or her letters
of guardianship demonstrating that he or she is the appointed
guardian of the victim.

(B) An attorney for the victim, who shall present to law
enforcement identification pursuant to begin delete subparagraph (A) of
paragraph (4) end delete begin insert subdivision (c) end insert and written proof that he or she is
the attorney for the victim.

(C) A conservator of the victim who shall present to law
enforcement identification pursuant to begin delete subparagraph (A) of
paragraph (4) end delete begin insert subdivision (c) end insert and a copy of his or her letters of
conservatorship demonstrating that he or she is the appointed
conservator of the victim.

(3) A representative of the victim does not include any person
who has been convicted of murder in the first degree, as defined
in Section 189 of the Penal Code, of the victim, or any person
identified in the incident report face sheet as a suspect.

begin delete

(4) Domestic violence incident report face sheets may not be
provided to a representative of the victim unless both of the
following conditions are met:

end delete begin delete

(A) The representative presents his or her identification, such
as a current, valid driver’s license, a state-issued identification
card, or a passport.

end delete begin delete

(B) The representative presents one of the following:

end delete begin delete

(i) If the victim is deceased, a certified copy of the death
certificate or other satisfactory evidence of the death of the victim
at the time of the request.

end delete begin delete

(ii) If the victim is alive, 12 years of age or older, and not the
subject of a conservatorship, a written authorization signed by the
victim making him or her the victim’s personal representative.

end delete

SEC. 2.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.