BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2263
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
2263 (Baker)
As Amended April 11, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Judiciary |10-0 |Mark Stone, Wagner, | |
| | |Alejo, Chau, Chiu, | |
| | |Gallagher, Weber, | |
| | |Holden, Maienschein, | |
| | |Ting | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Privacy |11-0 |Chau, Wilk, Baker, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, | |
| | |Cooper, Dababneh, | |
| | |Gatto, Gordon, Low, | |
| | |Olsen | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, McCarty, | |
| | |Eggman, Gallagher, | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, Chau, | |
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| | |Holden, Jones, | |
| | |Obernolte, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Standardizes the confidentiality protections for Safe
at Home (SAH) program participants, regardless of whether their
participation is based on their status as victims of domestic
violence, stalking, or sexual assault, or on their status as a
patient, employee, or volunteer at a reproductive health care
clinic; and requires the Secretary of State (SOS) to provide SAH
enrollees with information about how to protect their privacy on
real property records. Specifically, this bill:
1)Specifies that no person, business, or association shall
publicly post or display on the Internet the address of an SAH
program participant, as specified, who has made a written
demand of that person, business, or association to not
disclose the home address of the program participant.
2)Specifies that no person, business, or association shall
knowingly post the home address of a an SAH program
participant, as specified, or of the program participant's
residing spouse or child, on the Internet, knowing that person
is a program participant and intending to cause imminent great
bodily harm or threatening to cause imminent great bodily harm
to the program participant or his or her residing spouse or
child.
3)Requires the SOS to post on its website and provide new SAH
enrollees information about how to protect personal privacy on
real property records as follows:
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a) A notice that the participant may request to use his or
her SOS SAH address on real property deeds, change of
ownership forms, and deeds of trust when purchasing or
selling a home;
b) A notice that the participant may wish to protect his or
her home address from disclosure in real property
transactions by creating a trust and placing his or her
real property into the trust;
c) A notice that the participant may wish to legally change
his or her name in order to protect his or her anonymity;
and
d) A list of contacts for entities, such as county bar
associations, legal aid societies, domestic violence
prevention organizations, or other state or local
nonprofits who can provide more information and legal
services to create a trust or accomplish a name change.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the SAH address confidentiality program within the
office of the SOS. This program allows state and local
agencies to accept a substitute address designated by the SOS
in lieu of an actual home address and requires the agency to
request for public records without disclosing the address of a
victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or
elder or dependent adult abuse. Permits any such adult
victim, or parent or guardian acting on behalf of a minor or
incapacitated person, to apply through a specified program to
have an address designated by the SOS as his or her substitute
mailing address.
2)Similarly, allows reproductive health care providers,
employees, volunteers, and patients to participate in the SAH
address confidentiality program, as specified.
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3)Provides that no person, business, or association shall
knowingly and intentionally publicly post or publicly display
on the Internet the home address, home telephone number, or
image of a program participant or other individuals residing
at the same home address with the intent to threaten the
participant or cause the participant, or co-resident, harm, as
specified.
4)Prohibits the SOS from disclosing a program participant's name
change or address, other than the designated address, unless
it is requested by, and disclosed to, law enforcement, or
directed by a court, or if the participant's certification has
been canceled.
5)Prohibits a person, business, or association from knowingly
posting or displaying on the Internet the home address, home
telephone number, or image of any provider, employee,
volunteer, or patient of a reproductive health service
facility, with the intent to incite a third person to cause
imminent bodily harm to a person protected by this provision.
Permits a person whose personal information is posted to bring
an action for injunctive relief of damages, as specified.
Provides that no person shall post or display on the Internet
any personal information about a person protected by this
provision if the person has requested that the information be
removed, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, minor and absorbable costs for the SOS to provide the
required notifications. There are currently about 3,100 SAH
participants.
COMMENTS: The California Public Records Act (PRA) requires
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state and local agencies to make public records available for
inspection and copying by members of the public, unless the
records are expressly exempted from disclosure by express
provisions of the PRA or some other statute. One such exemption
includes participants in the Safe At Home (SAH) program, which
is intended to keep the home addresses of program participants
confidential. Though restricted to victims of domestic violence
when first established in 1998, the program has since expanded
to include victims of stalking and sexual assault, patients,
employees, and volunteers of reproductive health centers, and
victims of elder and dependent adult abuse. The SAH program
works by allowing program participants to use a substitute,
publicly disclosable address, in lieu of the actual home
address, whenever an address is required by a public agency for
an official purpose. Any correspondence from the agency to the
participant is sent to the designated address, and the SOS
forwards it to the participant's actual and confidential
address. In addition, the SOS is also designated to receive
legal notices and service of process on the participant's
behalf. Agencies must accept the SOS address and use it when
creating, or disclosing, public records.
As most recently amended, this bill does two things. First, it
offers the same protections for SAH program participants,
regardless of the reason for their participation. Existing law
provides separate code sections for SAH participants who are
victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, on
the one hand, and SAH participants who are clients, employees,
or volunteers of a reproductive health center, on the other
hand. This bill effectively harmonizes these two code
provisions so that both groups have the same protections.
Second, in order to make maximize the effectiveness of the
program, this bill requires the SOS to provide to each
participant, and to post on its Internet Web site, a notice that
informs participants about their rights under the program and
provides other information on how the participant can better
protect his or her privacy on property records.
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Analysis Prepared by:
Thomas Clark / JUD. / (916) 319-2334 FN:
0003020