BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 504 (Lara) - Court records: sealing
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|Version: April 6, 2015 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 5 - 2 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: May 4, 2015 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 504 would do the following:
Provide that only a person 26 years of age or older may
be charged the existing fee of up to $150 for petitioning
the court for an order to seal his or her criminal record.
Provide that only a person 26 years of age or older
shall, unless indigent, be liable for the cost to a county
and court for any investigation related to the sealing and
for the sealing of a juvenile record.
Require courts to automatically seal certain juvenile
records at the time the jurisdiction of the juvenile court
has terminated.
Require probation departments and local law enforcement
agencies to automatically seal juvenile records at the time
the decision is made to not refer the person to the
probation department or district attorney's office.
Fiscal
Impact:
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Potential ongoing revenue loss to courts and counties
potentially in the range of $200,000 (Local/General Fund) due
to the prohibition on charging a fee to a person under 26
years of age to seal his or her juvenile record.
Potentially significant state-reimbursable costs (General
Fund) by removing county and city authority to charge a fee to
recoup actual costs. Although counties and cities may not
currently be charging a fee, this measure would prohibit local
agencies from ever charging a fee to recoup such costs.
Potential future cost savings to the courts (General Fund)
through the automatic sealing of records upon termination of
jurisdiction of specified juvenile cases.
Potentially significant ongoing increased costs to local
probation departments and law enforcement agencies required to
automatically seal certain juvenile records, as specified. To
the extent local agency expenditures qualify as a reimbursable
state mandate, agencies could claim reimbursement of those
costs (General Fund).
Background: Existing law states that a person who petitions for an order
sealing a juvenile misdemeanor record may be required to
reimburse the court for the actual cost of services rendered,
whether or not the petition is granted and the records are
sealed or expunged, at a rate to be determined by the court, not
to exceed $150, and to reimburse any county for the actual cost
of services rendered, whether or not the petition is granted, at
a rate to be determined by the county board of supervisors, not
to exceed $150, and to reimburse any city for the actual cost of
services rendered, whether or not the petition is granted, at a
rate to be determined by the city council, not to exceed $150.
(Penal Code (PC) § 1203.45(g).)
Existing law further provides that the "father, mother, spouse,
or other person liable for the support of a minor person, the
person himself or herself if he or she is an adult, or the
estates of those persons, unless indigent," be liable for the
cost to the county and court for any investigation related to
the sealing and for the sealing of any juvenile court or arrest
records pertaining to that person. Upon a petition filed for an
order sealing a record, the father, mother, spouse, or other
person liable for the support of the minor, that person if he or
she is an adult, or the estate of that person, may be required
to reimburse the county and court for the actual cost of
SB 504 (Lara) Page 2 of
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services rendered, whether or not the petition is granted and
the records sealed or expunged, at a rate to be determined by
the county board of supervisors and court, respectively, not to
exceed $150. (WIC § 903.3(a)-(b).)
Ability to make these reimbursements is to be determined by the
court and shall not be a prerequisite to a person's eligibility.
The court may order reimbursement in a case which the petitioner
appears to have the ability to pay, without undue hardship, all
or any portion of the cost for services established.
Current law provides that five years or more after the
jurisdiction of the juvenile court has terminated over a person
adjudged a ward of the court or after a minor appeared before a
probation officer, or in any case at any time after the person
has reached the age of 18, the person or county probation
officer, with specified exceptions, may petition the juvenile
court for sealing of the records, including arrest records,
relating to the person's case, as specified.
Proposed Law:
This bill would limit the imposition of a fee by a court, a
county, or a city to seal juvenile court records to persons 26
years of age or older. Additionally, this bill:
Deletes the liability of a parent, spouse, or other person
liable for the support of a minor from the cost to the
county and court for any investigation related to the
sealing and for the sealing of any juvenile court or arrest
records, and instead places liability for the cost to
persons 26 years of age or older.
Requires the court to seal certain juvenile records
automatically by providing that in any case in which a
petition has been filed with a juvenile court to commence
proceedings to adjudge a person a ward of the court, the
court shall, at the time the jurisdiction of the juvenile
court has terminated as to the person, order all records, as
specified, in the person's case in the custody of the
juvenile court sealed.
Requires law enforcement to seal certain juvenile records
automatically by requiring that in "any case in which a
person is cited to appear before a probation officer or is
taken before a probation officer or officer of a law
enforcement agency, and no petition is filed, the probation
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department or law enforcement agency shall, at the time at
which the decision was made to not refer the person to the
probation department or to the district attorney's officer,
seal all records, including records of arrest, relating to
the person's case, in the custody of the probation
department or law enforcement agency.
Related
Legislation: AB 666 (Stone) 2015 requires records in the
custody of law enforcement agencies, the probation department,
or any other public agency having records pertaining to the case
to be sealed in a case where a court has ordered a juvenile's
records to be sealed, as specified. This bill has been ordered
to third reading on the Assembly Floor.
Prior Legislation: AB 1756 (Skinner) 2014 was substantially
similar to this measure. This bill was held on the Suspense File
of this Committee.
Staff
Comments: By removing the authority of courts, counties, and cities to
charge a fee of up to $150 for the sealing of records to persons
under 26 years of age, the provisions of this measure could
result in an ongoing moderate loss of revenue to the courts,
counties, and cities.
Based on a survey of 34 counties, including Los Angeles,
Alameda, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, Sacramento, and
Santa Clara, completed by the East Bay Community Law Center, the
average number of juvenile record sealing petitions filed
annually per county is 170, or 5,780 petitions in total for the
34 counties. Assuming statewide petitions of about 6,000 to
account for smaller counties, and removing Los Angeles County
(which does not charge a fee for petitions and represents over
55 percent of petitions) results in about 2,700 petitions.
Assuming 25 percent of these petitions would have the fee
waived, the potential annual loss of revenue assuming an average
fee of $100 per petition would be $200,000.
Many cities and counties, including Los Angeles County, do not
currently charge a fee for the actual costs of services rendered
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for the sealing of records. However, by prohibiting cities and
counties from charging a fee, now or at any point in the future,
to recoup the actual costs for services rendered, this bill
could result in General Fund costs should local agencies file
claims with the Commission on State Mandates (CSM) and the
prohibition on recouping local agency costs are determined to be
a reimbursable state mandate by the CSM.
The Judicial Council has indicated no additional costs or cost
pressures on the trial courts, as there are no additional
hearings associated with the requirement to seal records
automatically upon the termination of juvenile jurisdiction of a
case. To the extent the provisions of this measure would result
in fewer future petitions to seal court records could result in
court efficiencies and some degree of future cost savings.
By requiring probation departments and local law enforcement
agencies to automatically seal juvenile records for cases in
which the decision was made to not refer the person to the
probation department or to the district attorney's officer, this
bill could result in a greater number of juvenile records sealed
and additional costs to these local agencies. It is unknown how
many cases would be impacted, but could be significant. To the
extent these local agency expenditures qualify as a reimbursable
state mandate, these agencies could claim reimbursement of those
costs (General Fund).
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