BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1703
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 1, 2016
Counsel: David Billingsley
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Bill Quirk, Chair
AB
1703 (Santiago) - As Introduced January 25, 2016
SUMMARY: Expands the definition of "immediate medical or
hospital care" to includes critical specialty medical
procedures or treatment, such as dialysis, which cannot be
performed at a city or county jail.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides that whenever it appears to a sheriff or jailer that
a prisoner in a jail under his or her charge is in need of
immediate medical or hospital care, and that the health and
welfare of the prisoner will be injuriously affected unless
the prisoner is taken to a hospital, the sheriff or jailer may
authorize the immediate removal of the prisoner under guard to
a hospital, without first obtaining a court order as
specified. (Pen. Code § 4011.5.)
2)Requires the sheriff or jailer to apply to a judge for an
order authorizing the continued absence of the prisoner from
the jail when the condition of the prisoner prevents his
return to the jail within 48-hours from the time of his
removal for medical treatment, (Pen. Code § 4011.5.)
3)Specifies that the court may order the removal of an inmate
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from a city or county jail to the county hospital or if there
is no county hospital in such county, to any hospital
designated by such court when the judge finds that a prisoner
in any city or county jail requires medical treatment
necessitating hospitalization that cannot be provided at the
jail. (Pen. Code § 4011, subd. (a).)
4)Requires the sheriff or other official in charge of county
correctional facilities to maintain the necessary guards, who
may be private security guards, for the safekeeping of a
prisoner at an outside medical facility. (Pen. Code § 4011,
subd. (a).)
5)Specifies that any case in which it appears to the person in
charge of a jail, or juvenile detention facility, or to a
judge, that a person in custody in that jail or juvenile
detention facility may be mentally disordered, he or she may
cause the prisoner to be taken to a facility for 72-hour
treatment and evaluation and he or she shall inform the
facility in writing, which shall be confidential, of the
reasons that the person is being taken to the facility. (Pen.
Code § 4011.6.)
6)Specifies that the cost of outside medical services will be
charged against the county or the city responsible for the
jail, and the city or county may recover the costs from the
person receiving medical services, or any person or agency
responsible for his care and maintenance. (Pen. Code § 4011,
subd. (b).)
7)Provides that when a prisoner is poor, the cost of outside
medical services will be paid out of the general fund of the
city or county. (Pen. Code § 4011, subd. (c).)
8)States that in the case of city jail prisoners removed to the
county hospital, the cost of such hospital care will be paid
by the city to the county, at a rate per day fixed by the
board of supervisors of the county to approximate the average
actual cost to the county of such hospital care. (Pen. Code §
4011, subd. (c).)
9)Provides that a prisoner who is financially able to pay for
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his medical care, the medical superintendent of such hospital
other than a county hospital may, with the approval of a
judge, enter into a special agreement with such person, or
with his relatives or friends, for his medical expenses. (Pen.
Code § 4011, subd. (d).)
10)States that any prisoner may decline care or treatment and
provide other care and treatment for himself at his own
expense. (Pen. Code § 4011, subd. (d).)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "Current law
governing the medical treatment of prisoners in county or city
jails was written prior to the passage of realignment, when
the average stay was 30 days in county jail. Today, those
convicted of a felony stay for much longer. This increases
long-term medical issues faced by inmates along with the
processes and procedures sheriffs and jailers must undergo to
address them.
"Los Angeles County jail runs anywhere from six to twelve
inmates at a time, several times a week, to receive dialysis
treatment. Los Angeles County sheriffs must obtain a court
order for each individual to be transported to an outside
medical facility.
"This is time consuming, both for court and the jail.
"Court orders prolong the process that sheriffs and jailers
must undergo to remove an inmate for ongoing specialty
treatments. This time consuming process results in backlog
that delays treatment, which usually results in unintended
expensive medical emergencies."
2)This Bill Seeks to Add Language to an Existing Statute as
Clarification: Existing law allows a sheriff or a jailer to
transport a prisoner to a hospital without a court order, when
the prisoner is "in need or immediate medical or hospital care
and that the health and welfare of the prisoner will be
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injuriously affected unless the prisoner is taken to a
hospital." (Pen. Code § 4011.5.) This bill does not seek to
change that language. Rather, the bill adds language which
clarifies that "critical specialty medical procedures or
treatment, such as dialysis, which cannot be furnished,
performed, or supplied at a city or county jail" are
treatments which fall under the more general definition of
immediate medical care. If such language serves as a
clarification, it is only necessary to the extent that the
current language is not being interpreted to include such
medical procedures.
3)Longer Stays in County Jail Related to Realignment:
Realignment limited which felons can be sent to state prison,
thus requiring that more felons serve their sentences in
county jails. Realignment applies to defendants who commit
qualifying offenses, do not have specified prior convictions,
and who were sentenced on or after October 1, 2011. One
consequence of realignment was to shift some of the population
serving time in the state prisons to county jails. The Public
Policy Institute of California (PPIC) has studied the impact
of realignment. PPIC has noted the impact of increased number
of county jail inmates since Realignment:
"Our data indicate that realignment has significantly affected
county jail populations. Between June 2011 and June 2012, during
which time California's prison population declined by roughly
26,600, the average daily population of California's jails grew
by about 8,600 inmates, or about 12 percent."(Impact of
Realignment on County Jail Populations, PPIC, Magnus Lofstrom
and Louis Raphael, 2013, p. 2.)
PPIC's research has specifically noted the number of inmates
now serving extended sentences in county jails:
Before realignment, the maximum stay in county jail was one
year. Now that lower-level felons go to county jail, this
practice has changed-there is no limit on the amount of time
these offenders can serve. As of early 2014, county jails
housed 1,761 inmates serving sentences of more than five
years-up 606 from 2013.
( http://www.ppic.org/main/publication_show.asp?i=1061 )
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Given the significant number of inmates serving sentences in
county jails in excess of a year, it is natural to expect a
corresponding increase in health problems that need to be
dealt with over multi-year county jail sentences.
4)Argument in Support: According to California State
Association of Counties, "Current law allows a Sheriff to
remove a prisoner in a county or a city jail if the prisoner
needs on-going medical treatments, such as dialysis or
hospital care. Each time an inmate is removed from a jail the
sheriff is required to obtain a court order. This can be a
very time consuming process that can result in backlogs that
seriously delay treatment for inmates in need of critical
care.
"AB 1703 will expedite the transport process for these inmates
by extending the definition of immediate medical care to
include critical specialty medical procedures or treatment
such as dialysis. This will result in one court order for the
medical care of the inmate reducing the burden on the courts
and law enforcement for repetitive court orders."
5)Prior Legislation:
a) AB 2261 (Valdavao), of the 2011-2012 Legislative
Session, would have allowed a $5 fee for each inmate
initiated medical visit for inmates in city or county jail.
AB 2261 was held in the Senate Public Safety Committee.
b) AB 1487 (Hill), of the 2009-2010 Legislative Session,
amended in the Senate into an unrelated subject area, would
have increased from $3 to $6 the fee charged for each
inmate-initiated medical visit by an inmate confined in a
county or city jail, and required that the $3 fee increase
be deposited in the county inmate welfare fund.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office (Sponsor)
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American Civil Liberties Union of California
California State Association of Counties
California State Sheriffs' Association
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared
by: David Billingsley / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744