Amended in Assembly February 25, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 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 amended, 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 domesticbegin delete violenceend deletebegin insert violence, as defined,end insert or to his or her personal representative, as defined, upon request.

This bill wouldbegin insert alsoend insert requirebegin delete theend delete state or local law enforcement agencies to provide those reports to a victim of sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking,begin delete elder abuse, or any crime in which the victim and the perpetrator are in a domestic relationship, as defined.end deletebegin insert or abuse of an elder or a dependent adult, as defined.end insert The bill wouldbegin delete also specifically include in the definition ofend deletebegin insert defineend insert “victim”begin insert for these purposes to includeend insert 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:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 6228 of the Family Code is amended to
2read:

3

6228.  

(a) State and local law enforcement agencies shall
4provide,begin insert upon request andend insert without charging a fee, one copy of all
5incident report face sheets, one copy of all incident reports, or
6both, to abegin delete victim of domestic crime, as defined in subdivision (f),
7or to his or her representative as defined in subdivision (g), upon
8request.end delete
begin insert victim, or his or her representative as defined in
9subdivision (g), of a crime that constitutes an act of any of the
10following:end insert

begin insert

11(1) Domestic violence, as defined in Section 6211.

end insert
begin insert

12(2) Sexual assault, as defined in Sections 261, 261.5, 262, 265,
13266, 266a, 266b, 266c, 266g, 266j, 267, 269, 273.4, 285, 286, 288,
14288a, 288.5, 289, or 311.4 of the Penal Code.

end insert
begin insert

15(3) Stalking, as defined in Section 1708.7 of the Civil Code or
16Section 646.9 of the Penal Code.

end insert
begin insert

17(4) Human trafficking, as defined in Section 236.1 of the Penal
18Code.

end insert
begin insert

19(5) Abuse of an elder or a dependent adult, as defined in Section
2015610.07 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

end insert

21(b) (1) A copy of an incident report face sheet shall be made
22available during regular business hours to a victim or his or her
23representative no later than 48 hours after being requested by the
24victim or his or her representative, unless the state or local law
25enforcement agency informs the victim or his or her representative
26of the reasons why, for good cause, the incident report face sheet
27is not available, in which case the incident report face sheet shall
28be made available to the victim or his or her representative no later
29than five working days after the request is made.

30(2) A copy of the incident report shall be made available during
31regular business hours to a victim or his or her representative no
P3    1later than five working days after being requested by a victim or
2his or her representative, unless the state or local law enforcement
3agency informs the victim or his or her representative of the reasons
4why, for good cause, the incident report is not available, in which
5case the incident report shall be made available to the victim or
6his or her representative no later than 10 working days after the
7request is made.

8(c) Any person requesting copies under this section shall present
9state or local law enforcement with his or her identification,
10including a current, valid driver’s license, a state-issued
11identification card, or a passport. If the person is a representative
12of the victim and the victim is deceased, the representative shall
13also present a certified copy of the death certificate or other
14satisfactory evidence of the death of the victim at the time a request
15is made. If the person is a representative of the victim and the
16victim is alive and not the subject of a conservatorship, the
17representative shall also present a written authorization, signed by
18the victim, making him or her the victim’s personal representative.

19(d) This section shall apply to requests for face sheets or incident
20reports made within five years from the date of completion of the
21incident report.

22(e) This section shall be known and may be cited as the Access
23to Domestic Violence Reports Act of 1999.

begin delete

24(f) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall
25apply:

end delete
begin delete

26(1) “Domestic crime” means domestic violence, as defined in
27Section 6211, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, elder
28abuse, or any crime in which the victim and the perpetrator are in
29a relationship described in Section 6211.

end delete
begin delete

30(2) “Victim”

end delete

begin insert end insert
31begin insert(f)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertFor purposes of this section, “victim”end insert includes a minor who
32is 12 years of age or older.

33(g) (1) For purposes of this section, if the victim is deceased,
34a “representative of the victim” means any of the following:

35(A) The surviving spouse.

36(B) A surviving child of the decedent who has attained 18 years
37of age.

38(C) A domestic partner, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section
39297.

40(D) A surviving parent of the decedent.

P4    1(E) A surviving adult relative.

2(F) The personal representative of the victim, as defined in
3Section 58 of the Probate Code, if one is appointed.

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

5(2) For purposes of this section, if the victim is not deceased, a
6“representative of the victim” means any of the following:

7(A) A parent, guardian, or adult child of the victim, or an adult
8sibling of a victim 12 years of age or older, who shall present to
9law enforcement identification pursuant to subdivision (c). A
10guardian shall also present to law enforcement a copy of his or her
11letters of guardianship demonstrating that he or she is the appointed
12guardian of the victim.

13(B) An attorney for the victim, who shall present to law
14enforcement identification pursuant to subdivision (c) and written
15proof that he or she is the attorney for the victim.

16(C) A conservator of the victim who shall present to law
17enforcement identification pursuant to subdivision (c) and a copy
18of his or her letters of conservatorship demonstrating that he or
19she is the appointed conservator of the victim.

20(3) A representative of the victim does not include any person
21who has been convicted of murder in the first degree, as defined
22in Section 189 of the Penal Code, of the victim, or any person
23identified in the incident report face sheet as a suspect.

24

SEC. 2.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
25this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
26local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
27pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
284 of Title 2 of the Government Code.



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