BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 266
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
266 (Block)
As Amended June 27, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 36-1
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Public Safety |7-0 |Jones-Sawyer, | |
| | |Melendez, Lackey, | |
| | |Lopez, Low, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Authorizes the use of a sanction known as "flash
incarceration" to defendants granted probation or placed on
mandatory supervision. Specifically, this bill:
1)Provides that in any case where the court grants probation or
imposes a sentence that includes mandatory supervision, the
county probation department is authorized to use flash
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incarceration for any violation of the conditions of probation
or mandatory supervision if, at the time of granting probation
or ordering mandatory supervision, the court obtains from the
defendant a waiver to a court hearing prior to the imposition
of a period of flash incarceration.
2)Prohibits the denial of probation for refusal to sign a waiver
agreeing to flash incarceration.
3)Requires each county probation department to develop a
response matrix that establishes protocols for the imposition
of graduated sanctions for violations of the conditions of
probation to determine appropriate interventions to include
the use of flash incarceration.
4)Requires a probation department supervisor to approve a term
of flash incarceration before its imposition.
5)Requires the probation department to notify the court, public
defender, district attorney, and sheriff upon a decision to
impose a period of flash incarceration.
6)States that if the defendant does not agree to accept a
recommended period of flash incarceration, then the probation
officer may address the alleged violation by filing a
declaration or revocation request with the court.
7)Defines "flash incarceration" as "a period of detention in a
county jail due to a violation of an offender's conditions of
probation or mandatory supervision. The length of the
detention period may range between one and 10 consecutive
days. Shorter, but if necessary more frequent, periods of
detention for violations of an offender's conditions of
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probation or mandatory supervision shall appropriately punish
an offender while preventing the disruption in a work or home
establishment that typically arises from longer periods of
detention."
8)States that in cases where there are multiple violations in a
single incident, only one flash incarceration booking is
authorized and may range between one and 10 consecutive days.
9)Excludes application of flash incarceration to any defendant
convicted of a nonviolent drug possession offense who receives
probation under Proposition 36 of 2000.
10)Provides that if the supervised person's probation or
mandatory supervision is revoked, credits earned for a period
of flash incarceration count towards the term to be served.
11)Sunsets these provisions on January 1, 2021.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Authorizes intermediate sanctions, including flash
incarceration, to be imposed on inmates released from prison
after July 1, 2013 and subject to parole.
2)Authorizes intermediate sanctions, including flash
incarceration, for violating the terms of post-release
community supervision (PRCS).
3)Defines "flash incarceration" as a period of detention in a
city or county jail due to a violation of a person's
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conditions of parole or PRCS. The length of the detention
period can range between one and 10 consecutive days in a
county jail.
4)Requires a person placed on PRCS to agree to specified
conditions of release, including the waiver of the right to a
court hearing prior to the imposition of a period of flash
incarceration for any violation of his or her PRCS conditions.
5)Authorizes, as a general matter, the court to suspend a felony
sentence and order the conditional and revocable release of
the defendant in the community to probation supervision.
6)Provides if any probation officer, parole officer, or peace
officer has probable cause to believe that a supervised person
is violating any term or condition of his/her supervision, the
officer may arrest the person without a warrant at any time
and bring the person before the court for further disposition
such as modification, revocation or termination of the
person's supervision, as specified.
7)Gives the sentencing judge discretion to impose two types of
sentences to county jail. The court may commit the defendant
for the entire term allowed by law, or the court may impose a
"split sentence" in which part of the term is served in
custody and the remaining part of the term is comprised of a
period of mandatory supervision. However, the presumption is
that the defendant shall receive a split sentence, unless the
court finds that, in the interests of justice, it is not
appropriate in a particular case.
8)States that the traditional procedures used for violations of
probation will now be applicable to violations of mandatory
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supervision. Also states that procedures used to modify
probation are applicable to modify the conditions of mandatory
supervision.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS: According to the author, "The passage of Realignment
in 2011 overhauled how certain convicted felons would serve
their sentences with a strong emphasis on rehabilitation and
keeping these offenders in their local communities. As a
result, probation departments now have the responsibility to
supervise Post-Release Community Supervision (PRCS) offenders,
along with persons on mandatory supervision.
"A tool currently afforded to probation departments to supervise
Post-Release Community Supervision (PRCS) offenders that has
been successful is the use of flash incarceration. This
immediate, evidence-based tool, allows departments to address
serious violations of a condition of probation while minimally
disrupting the offenders' rehabilitation progress.
"Currently however, the use of flash incarceration is not
authorized on individuals under mandatory supervision (MS) or
those on probation. The result is that when an individual under
MS or probation commits a serious violation of a condition of
probation, the only existing mechanism to address these
violations is to initiate a petition for revocation of
probation. The revocation process disrupts offenders'
rehabilitation by removing them from their jobs, re-entry
programs, school, and/or family for a much longer period of time
compared to the use of flash incarceration.
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"By authorizing flash incarceration on MS and probationers, SB
266 will provide an additional tool to local probation
departments to address serious violations of a condition of
probation while not disrupting an individual's progress to
re-entry. Flash incarceration requires an individual to serve
up to 10 days in county jail after a violation is found.
"The bill has recently been amended to do several important
things. First, it will allow a person to decline flash at any
time and choose to go the traditional court hearing route via a
petition for revocation. Second, it prohibits probation from
being denied for refusal to sign the waiver. Third, it sets
forth a notification process to stakeholders upon an imposition
of flash, requires development of a local response matrix based
on evidence based practices, and requires supervisor approval of
the imposition of flash. Additionally, the bill clarifies that
while credits are not applied during a period of flash
incarceration, credits earned during a period of flash would be
applied to a custody term if the person on probation or
mandatory supervision was revoked. Lastly, the bill includes a
sunset date of 2022.
"SB 266 utilizes evidence-based intermediate sanctions which
balances holding offenders accountable while focusing on shorter
and few disruptions from work, home, and programming"
Analysis Prepared by:
Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN: 0003515
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