BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1906
          Author:   Melendez (R)
          Introduced:2/11/16  
          Vote:     21  

           SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE:  7-0, 5/10/16
           AYES:  Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  74-0, 3/28/16 (Consent) - See last page for  
            vote

           SUBJECT:   Mental health:  sexually violent predators


          SOURCE:    California District Attorneys Association
          
          DIGEST:   This bill requires the Department of State Hospitals  
          (DSH) to request that a district attorney file a petition for  
          commitment of a person as a sexually violent predator (SVP)  
          within 20 days of the determination by DSH that the person meets  
          the criteria for commitment as an SVP. 

          ANALYSIS: 

          Existing law:


           1) Provides for the civil commitment for psychiatric and  
             psychological treatment of a prison inmate found to be an SVP  
             after the person has served his or her prison commitment.   
             (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 6600, et seq.)


           2) Defines a "sexually violent predator" as "a person who has  
             been convicted of a sexually violent offense against at least  








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             one victim, and who has a diagnosed mental disorder that  
             makes the person a danger to the health and safety of others  
             in that it is likely that he or she will engage in sexually  
             violent criminal behavior."  (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 6600,  
             subd. (a)(1).)


           3) Permits a person committed as an SVP to be held for an  
             indeterminate term upon commitment.  (Welf. & Inst. Code, §  
             6604.1.)


           4) Requires that a person found to have been an SVP and  
             committed to the DSH have a current examination on his or her  
             mental condition made at least yearly.  The report shall  
             include consideration of conditional release to a less  
             restrictive alternative or an unconditional release is in the  
             best interest of the person and also what conditions can be  
             imposed to adequately protect the community.  (Welf. & Inst.  
             Code, § 6604.9.)


           5) Allows an SVP to seek conditional release with the  
             authorization of the DSH Director when DSH determines that  
             the person's condition has so changed that he or she no  
             longer meets the SVP criteria, or when conditional release is  
             in the person's best interest and conditions to adequately  
             protect the public can be imposed.  (Welf. & Inst. Code, §  
             6607.)


           6) Allows a person committed as an SVP to petition for  
             conditional release or an unconditional discharge any time  
             after one year of commitment, notwithstanding the lack of  
             recommendation or concurrence by the Director of DSH.  (Welf.  
             & Inst. Code, § 6608, subd. (a).)


           7) Provides that, if the court deems the conditional release  
             petition not frivolous, the court is to give notice of the  
             hearing date to the attorney designated to represent the  
             county of commitment, the retained or appointed attorney for  








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             the committed person, and the Director of DSH at least 30  
             court days before the hearing date.  (Welf. & Inst. Code, §  
             6608, subd. (b).)


           8) Requires the court to first obtain the written  
             recommendation of the director of the treatment facility  
             before taking any action on the petition for conditional  
             release if the is made without the consent of the director of  
             the treatment facility.  (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 6608, subd.  
             (c).)


           9) Provides that the court shall hold a hearing to determine  
             whether the person committed would be a danger to the health  
             and safety of others in that it is likely that he or she will  
             engage in sexually violent criminal behavior due to his or  
             her diagnosed mental disorder if under supervision and  
             treatment in the community. Existing law further provides  
             that the attorney designated the county of commitment shall  
             represent the state and have the committed person evaluated  
             by experts chosen by the state and that the committed person  
             shall have the right to the appointment of experts, if he or  
             she so requests.  (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 6608, subd. (e).)


           10)Requires the court to order the committed person placed with  
             an appropriate forensic conditional release program operated  
             by the state for one year if the court at the hearing  
             determines that the committed person would not be a danger to  
             others due to his or her diagnosed mental disorder while  
             under supervision and treatment in the community.  Existing  
             law further requires a substantial portion of the  
             state-operated forensic conditional release program to  
             include outpatient supervision and treatment.  Provides that  
             the court retains jurisdiction of the person throughout the  
             course of the program.  (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 6608, subd.  
             (e).)


           11)Provides that if the court denies the petition to place the  
             person in an appropriate forensic conditional release  








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             program, the person may not file a new application until one  
             year has elapsed from the date of the denial.  (Welf. & Inst.  
             Code, § 6608, subd. (h).)


           12)Allows, after a minimum of one year on conditional release,  
             the committed person, with or without the recommendation or  
             concurrence of the Director of DSH, to petition the court for  
             unconditional discharge, as specified.  (Welf. & Inst. Code,  
             § 6608, subd. (k).)


          This bill requires the Director of DSH to forward a request to a  
          county that a petition be filed for a person to be committed to  
          DSH for SVP treatment no later than 20 calendar days prior to  
          the scheduled release date of the person. 

          Background

          The SVP law was enacted in 1995 in response to concerns that  
          dangerous sex offenders were being released into the community  
          after they served determinate sentences in prison. The law is  
          especially complicated.  There are numerous steps and entities  
          involved in the process of assessing and committing a person to  
          DSH as an SVP.  The law has been frequently amended to prevent  
          or forestall release of an alleged or committed SVP due to some  
          problem or anomaly arising from the complexity of process.  For  
          example, the law was amended by two separate urgency bills in  
          the 1999-2000 legislative session.  One bill allowed the  
          California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)  
          to hold a potential SVP 45 days past his parole release date so  
          that DSH experts could complete required SVP evaluations.  The  
          other bill allowed commitment proceedings to proceed despite a  
          mistake in law or fact by CDCR as to application of parole  
          rules.  In 2015, the law was amended to give prosecutors access  
          to material relied upon by evaluators in producing updated  
          evaluations of alleged SVPs.  Other amendments from 1999 through  
          2015 have concerned notice requirements to communities where an  
          SVP will be released and virtually every other aspect of the  
          law.  
          
          Comments








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          According to the author:

            When the California Department of Corrections and  
            Rehabilitation (CDCR) and the Board of Parole Hearings (BPH)  
            determine that an individual in custody may be an SVP, based  
            on their commitment offense and a review of their social,  
            criminal, and institutional history, the individual is  
            referred to the DSH for a full SVP evaluation. Following that  
            evaluation, if DSH determines that the individual is an SVP,  
            the Director of DSH is required to request that the District  
            Attorney or County Counsel in the county in which the person  
            was convicted file a petition for commitment.  The filing of  
            that petition begins a civil commitment process, which can  
            lead to the individual being confined at Coalinga State  
            Hospital to receive treatment until it is determined that they  
            no longer pose a risk of re-offense.

            The SVP Act contains a statutory timeline for each step of the  
            evaluation process, as well as time limits for the filing of  
            the petition and certain court proceedings.  It does not,  
            however, contain a time frame for the submission of the  
            request for the filing of a petition to the DA or County  
            Counsel.  Because of this, DSH often submits filing materials  
            less than 48 hours before the release of an inmate who has  
            already been determined to qualify as an SVP.  The result of  
            these late requests is that the prosecuting agency bears the  
            burden of filing a case and transporting a defendant at the  
            last minute, at an enormous cost and use of resources.  The  
            better and long accepted operating practice is for DSH to  
            submit the filing in time for the DA to be able to  
            meaningfully review the request, file the petition, and  
            arrange for transportation of the alleged SVP to the county  
            where trial will be held.  In at least one instance in Los  
            Angeles County, the filing request was submitted too late for  
            the filing of a petition.  In several instances, the  
            supporting documents that are necessary for the filing of a  
            petition were not certified and there was little to no time to  
            correct this egregious error by DSH.

            The simple solution to this problem is to create a statutory  
            requirement that DSH submit the request for the filing of a  








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            petition no fewer than 20 days prior to the release of a  
            person determined to be an SVP.  This provides the attorneys  
            with time to meaningfully review and prepare a petition, and  
            protects public safety by helping to ensure that nobody slips  
            through the cracks due to a last minute filing request.


          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:NoLocal:    No


          SUPPORT:   (Verified5/11/16)


          California District Attorneys Association (source)
          California State Sheriffs' Association


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified5/11/16)


          None received




           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  74-0, 3/28/16
           AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow,  
            Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos,  
            Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd,  
            Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo  
            Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove,  
            Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones,  
            Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,  
            Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,  
            Nazarian, Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas,  
            Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond,  
            Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
           NO VOTE RECORDED:  Chang, Dahle, Eggman, McCarty, O'Donnell











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          Prepared by:  Jerome McGuire / PUB. S. /
          5/16/16 14:32:15


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