BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 2569 (Melendez) - Registered sex offenders
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|Version: August 2, 2016 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 4 - 3 |
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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 2569 would provide that before certain
intra-familial sex offenders who have been granted probation can
be excluded from public disclosure on the Megan's Law website,
(1) the defendant must have served probation for at least one
year, and, (2) the local victim-witness assistance center (VWAC)
is required to speak to the victim and make a determination, to
be submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ) within 60 days,
of whether granting an exemption would be in the best interest
of the victim.
Fiscal
Impact:
California Sex and Arson Registry (CSAR) : Potential costs of
$280,000 in FY 2016-17, $450,000 in FY 2017-18, and $450,000
in FY 2018-19 (General Fund) to the DOJ for necessary
programming and system modifications to the CSAR database,
validation clocks, and graphical user interface.
DOJ workload : Potential increase in costs (General Fund) to
the Appeals, Writs, and Trials (AWT) Unit of the Criminal Law
Division of the DOJ to address the potential increase in
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workload generated from a greater number of sex offender
applications for disclosure exclusions being denied, and a
potential increase in workload to rescind exclusions that were
previously granted under prior provisions of law (those
applications approved that had not served a full year of
probation prior to the granting of the exclusion). While the
projected number of applicants impacted prospectively is
estimated to be minor, the number of offenders already granted
exclusions that may be impacted is unknown.
Victim-witness assistance centers (VWACs) : Potentially
significant one-time and ongoing increase in costs (Special
Fund*/Federal Fund/other state/private funds) to local VWACs
to establish the new process, locate and meet with victims
once contacted by the DOJ, and make determinations within 60
days of DOJ contact on the best interests of victims. In the
absence of additional funding, the mandate to establish and
implement this process could potentially result in the
redirection of funds to support direct services that otherwise
would be provided to victims of crimes including domestic
violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. Although the
receipt of state funding by a VWAC is permissive, in the
absence of clarifying language, the provisions of this bill
may create a reimbursable state mandate on county VWACs to
provide a higher level of service, potentially requiring
reimbursement by the state (General Fund).
*Victim-Witness Assistance (VWA) Fund - staff notes the VWA Fund
is insolvent, with a projected FY 2016-17 year-end balance of
$49,000. In order to address the VWA Fund's operating shortfall,
one of the state's short-term solutions has been to shift costs
to other state funds such as the Restitution Fund.
Background: Existing law generally requires persons convicted of specified
sex offenses to register with law enforcement where they reside
for the rest of their lives, as specified. (Penal Code (PC) §
290 et seq.) Under existing law, the Department of Justice (DOJ)
is required to make available specified information about
registered sex offenders via an internet website, which is more
commonly known as the Megan's Law website. (PC § 290.46.)
Existing law authorizes an offender who has been convicted of
specified offenses to file an application with the DOJ for
exclusion from disclosure on the internet website, but provides
that exclusion from the website does not relieve the offender
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from the duty to register as a sex offender or other applicable
provisions of law. Existing law additionally authorizes an
exclusion from disclosure on the Megan's Law website after
application by an offender for certain intra-familial crimes, as
follows:
The offender was the victim's parent, stepparent,
sibling, or grandparent, the crime did not involve
specified acts, and the offender successfully completed
probation, as clearly demonstrated by a certified copy of
an official document, as specified; or
The offender was the victim's parent, stepparent,
sibling, or grandparent, the crime did not involve
specified acts, and the offender is on probation at the
time of his or her application, as clearly demonstrated by
a certified copy of official documents, as specified. (PC
290.46(e)(2)(D).)
This bill seeks to impose additional requirements to be met
prior to an application being granted by the DOJ for exclusion
from disclosure on the Megan's Law website for specified
intra-familial sex offenders.
Proposed Law:
This bill would provide for the following requirements to be
met before certain intra-familial sex offenders who have been
granted probation can be excluded from public disclosure on the
Megan's Law website:
For an offender who is on probation at the time of his
or her application, the defendant must have served
probation for at least one year prior to the granting of
his or her application.
Prior to granting an application for an offender who has
completed probation or is currently serving probation,
requires a local victim-witness assistance center (VWAC) to
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speak to the victim and make a determination, to be
submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ) within 60 days
of being contacted by the DOJ, of whether granting an
exemption would be in the best interest of the victim.
o Provides that if the victim cannot be located
by the VWAC, declines to speak with a representative
of the VWAC, or if the VWAC does not otherwise speak
with the victim and submit its determination within 60
days of being contacted by the DOJ, the DOJ shall
grant the exclusion if all other requirements are
otherwise met.
o Provides that if the application for exclusion
is denied due the VWAC process, the application may
not be reconsidered until after three months from the
denial.
o Provides that notwithstanding the existing
provision of law that provides for the rescission of
an exclusion granted under prior law, an exclusion
application already granted prior to the effective
date of this measure shall not be subject to
rescission pursuant to the clause establishing the
VWAC determination process.
Related
Legislation: AB 1844 (Fletcher) Chapter 219/2010 enacted
"Chelsea's Law," which increased penalties for forcible sex acts
against minors, created a penalty of life without the
possibility of parole for specified sex acts against minors,
created safe zones around parks, and mandated lifetime parole
for specified sex offenses.
AB 1323 (Vargas) Chapter 722/2005 updated provisions of "Megan's
Law" in order to conform to provisions requiring the DOJ to post
sex offender registration information on the internet. AB 1323
modified provisions of law that allow specified registered sex
offenders who have successfully completed probation to apply
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for, and be granted, exclusion from the DOJ Megan's Law website
in specified instances of intra-familial sexual abuse and added
a provision that specified sex offenders who are currently on
probation may apply for exclusion provided the offender submit
to the DOJ a certified copy of specified documents.
AB 488 (Parra) Chapter 745/2004 required the DOJ, on or before
July 1, 2005, to make specified information about certain sex
offenders available to the public via the internet website and
to update that information on an ongoing basis, which would
include the home address of specified offenders.
Staff
Comments: The DOJ has indicated one-time costs of $280,000 in
FY 2016-17, $450,000 in FY 2017-18, and $450,000 in FY 2018-19
for necessary programming and system modifications to the CSAR
database, validation clocks, and graphical user interface. The
costs would be paid from the General Fund.
The DOJ will also potentially incur an increase in workload due
to a greater number of sex offender applications for exclusion
from disclosure being denied due to the VWAC determination
process, and the potential requirement to rescind exclusions
previously granted under prior provisions of law that did not at
that time require a minimum of one full year of probation to be
served prior to the granting of an application for exclusion.
Although the bill specifies no exclusions already granted will
be rescinded due to the new provision of law requiring a VWAC to
speak with the victim to determine whether granting an exemption
would be in the best interests of the victim, a similar
provision is not provided for the new requirement that imposes a
minimum of one year served of probation for an offender who is
on probation at the time of his or her application. As a result
all exclusions granted to date for offenders who were on
probation at the time of their application but who had not been
on probation for at least one year could potentially have their
exclusions rescinded. The number of prospective applicants is
projected to be minor (less than 50 annually, based on an annual
applicant caseload of about 500 offenders), however, the number
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of offenders that have been granted an exclusion to date that
may be impacted by this measure is unknown but could be
significant.
This bill imposes new activities on local VWACs, potentially
resulting in significant one-time and ongoing costs to establish
the new process, conduct training, locate and meet with victims
once contacted by the DOJ, and make determinations within 60
days of DOJ contact on the best interests of victims. VWACs are
supported by numerous funds sources including the Victim-Witness
Assistance (VWA) Fund, Federal Funds, and other state, local,
and private funds. Staff notes the VWA Fund is insolvent, with a
projected year-end reserve balance of only $49,000. In the
absence of adequate funding from alternative fund sources such
as federal VOCA Funds or other local or private funds, the
mandate to establish and implement this process could
potentially result in the redirection of existing funds
available to support direct services that otherwise would be
provided to victims of crimes including domestic violence,
sexual assault, and human trafficking. Although the receipt of
state funding by a VWAC is permissive, and it appears the
establishment of a VWAC is optional, in the absence of
clarifying language, the provisions of this bill may create a
reimbursable state mandate on county VWACs to provide a higher
level of service, potentially requirement reimbursement by the
state (General Fund).
Recommended
Amendments:
1. To address the potential increase in workload to the DOJ
associated with the possible rescission of exclusions
granted for offenders on probation at the time of their
applications but who had not served a minimum of one year,
the author may wish to consider an amendment as follows:
On page 7, in line 39, after (ii) insert "(I)".
On page 8, between lines 10 and 11, insert the following:
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(II) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), an exclusion
application already granted prior to the effective date of
this measure that modifies this clause shall not be subject
to rescission pursuant to this clause.
2. Staff also recommends the following technical amendment:
On page 8, in line 39, strike "recision" and insert
"rescission".
3. To avoid the creation of a potential reimbursable state
mandate, the author may wish to consider an amendment to
clarify that the operation of a local VWAC is permissive.
On page 8, after line 39, insert:
(V) Nothing in this clause is intended to require a local
agency to operate a local assistance center for victims and
witnesses.
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