BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1771 (O'Donnell) - Prostitution
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|Version: August 2, 2016 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 7 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: August 8, 2016 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 1771 would expand the scope of, and increase the
penalty for, the misdemeanor offense of aiding or supervising a
prostitute, as specified. This bill would additionally authorize
a juvenile court judge to dismiss a petition filed for
soliciting or engaging in an act of prostitution, or for aiding
or supervising a prostitute where the minor committed the
offense through duress or coercion.
Fiscal
Impact:
Local jails : Potentially significant increase in local
incarceration costs for (1) new misdemeanor convictions to
county jail under the expanded scope of the offense, and (2)
longer jail sentences for applicable convictions under current
law impacted by the increase to the maximum jail term from six
months to one year. The DOJ indicates an average of 236 arrests
for this offense in each of the past two years. For every 10
percent of cases that are potentially impacted by this measure,
local incarceration costs could increase in the hundreds of
thousands of dollars (Local Funds/General Fund*) annually.
AB 1771 (O'Donnell) Page 1 of
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*Proposition 30 (2012) provides that legislation enacted after
September 30, 2012, that has an overall effect of increasing the
costs already borne by a local agency, as specified, apply to
local agencies only to the extent the State provides annual
funding for the cost increase. Although legislation creating a
new crime or revising the definition of an existing crime is
exempt from Proposition 30 state funding requirements,
legislation that changes the penalty for an existing crime is
not similarly specifically exempt. Aiding or supervising a
prostitute is an existing crime. To the extent increasing the
county jail sentence for this crime is determined to change the
penalty for this crime, the increase in costs to local agencies
attributable to provisions of the existing crime could
potentially require annual funding from the State.
Background: Under existing law, any person who loiters in any public place
with the intent to commit prostitution is guilty of a
misdemeanor that is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail
for up to six months, by a fine of up to $1,000, or by both that
imprisonment and fine. Existing law enumerates the circumstances
that may be considered in determining whether a person loiters
with the intent to commit prostitution, as specified. (Penal
Code § 653.22 (a)-(b).)
Existing law additionally provides that it is a misdemeanor
punishable by up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to
$1,000, or both that imprisonment and fine, to do either of the
following:
(1) Direct, supervise, recruit, or otherwise aid another
person in the commission of prostitution or loitering in
any public place with the intent to commit prostitution.
(2) Collect or receive all or part of the proceeds earned
from an act or acts of prostitution committed by another
person who solicits or engages in an act of prostitution.
Among the circumstances that may be considered in determining
whether a person is in violation of this provision of law are
that the person (1) repeatedly speaks or communicates with, or
AB 1771 (O'Donnell) Page 2 of
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(2) repeatedly or continuously monitors or watches, or (3)
receives or appears to receive money from another person
loitering with the intent to commit prostitution. (Penal Code §
653.23 (a)-(b).)
Proposed Law:
This bill would increase the penalty for soliciting or aiding a
prostitute from a maximum sentence of six months in county jail
to a maximum of one year in county jail. Additionally, this
bill:
Specifies that if someone is repeatedly speaking to or
communicating with a person who is soliciting or engaging in
any act of prostitution, as prohibited by Penal Code § 647(b),
the person speaking to or communicating with the other party
may be guilty of the crime of supervising or aiding a
prostitute.
Specifies that if someone repeatedly or continuously monitors
or watches another person who is soliciting or engaging in any
act of prostitution, as prohibited by Penal Code § 647(b), the
person speaking to or communicating with the other party may
be guilty of the crime of supervising or aiding a prostitute.
Specifies that if someone receives or appears to receive money
from another person who is soliciting sex for money or a
person who is offering sexual services for compensation, as
prohibited by Penal Code § 647(b), they may be guilty of the
crime of supervising or aiding a prostitute.
Permits prior human trafficking convictions to be considered
in determining whether a person may be guilty of the crime of
supervising or aiding a prostitute.
Permits a juvenile court, on grounds that the minor was
coerced or subject to duress, to dismiss a petition alleging
that a minor solicited or engaged in an act of prostitution or
directed or supervised a prostitute.
Related
Legislation: AB 1695 (Knox) Chapter 981/1998 made it a
misdemeanor to supervise, recruit, direct or in any way aid
another in an act of prostitution, or to collect proceeds earned
from an act of prostitution.
AB 1771 (O'Donnell) Page 3 of
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Staff
Comments: By increasing the penalty from a maximum of six
months in county jail to a maximum of one year in county jail
for the misdemeanor offense of supervising or aiding a person in
the commission of an act of prostitution, or collecting all or a
portion of the proceeds earned from acts of prostitution, this
bill could result in future increases to local agencies for
local incarceration costs due to longer jail sentences. This
bill additionally establishes additional circumstances that may
be used to determine if a person has committed the offense,
potentially resulting in new commitments to local jails that
otherwise may not have occurred under existing law.
Statistics from the DOJ indicate an average of 236 arrests in
each of the past two years for the offense specified in this
measure. To the extent the greater penalty results in up to a
net three-month increase (assuming good time credits earned) in
jail incarceration costs for 10 percent of applicable cases,
local incarceration costs could increase by up to about
$265,000. The number of additional convictions resulting from
the expanded scope of the offense is unknown, but for every 10
new commitments to county jail, a six-month jail term (assuming
good time credits earned) would cost about $225,000 annually.
Staff notes that aiding or supervising a prostitute is a crime
under existing law. Pursuant to Proposition 30 (2012),
legislation enacted after September 30, 2012, that has an
overall effect of increasing the costs already borne by a local
agency for programs or levels of service mandated by the 2011
Realignment Legislation apply to local agencies only to the
extent that the state provides annual funding for the cost
increase. Although Proposition 30 specifies that legislation
defining a new crime or changing the definition of an existing
crime is not subject to this provision, changing the penalty for
a crime is not specifically exempted and could potentially
require a subvention of funds from the state. To the extent
increasing the penalty for aiding or supervising a prostitute is
determined to change the penalty for the existing crime, any
increase in costs to local agencies attributable to the existing
crime could potentially require annual funding from the State.
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