BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 504
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 19, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
SB 504
(Lara) - As Amended July 14, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill provides that only a person 26 years of age or older
may be charged a fee for petitioning the court for an order
sealing his or her record.
SB 504
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FISCAL EFFECT:
Potentially moderate state-reimbursable costs (General Fund) by
removing county and city authority to charge a fee to recoup
actual costs, in the $100,000 to $150,000 range. Although some
counties and cities do not currently charge a fee, this measure
would prohibit local agencies from ever charging a fee to recoup
such costs. According to some estimates, the average cost is
about $102. However, in some cases, this cost includes trial
court costs and the actual cost to the County Probation
Department is less than $100. If mandate claims were submitted
for 1,500 petitions statewide for which fees could not be
charged, the reimbursable state mandated cost would be less than
$150,000.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the background materials provided by
the author's office, "Under current law, the records-sealing
fee serves as an obstacle for a youth's successful reentry.
Adjudicated youth who seek to clear their records must pay
$150 to petition the court to seal his or her records. The
current law is cost-prohibitive and counterintuitive. Without
sealed records, these youth will have limited opportunities
and will likely recidivate. When employers and landlords
conduct background checks on applicants, a juvenile record can
be used as a basis for a denial. Sealing records is the best
way to ensure that these youth's past mistakes do not
continuously hinder their future opportunities. As long as the
fee remains as an obstacle to these youth's rehabilitation,
record sealing is an ineffective tool.
"SB 504 has the potential to create significant economic
benefits once record sealing is more accessible to youth. As
SB 504
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adjudicated youth are able to expunge their records they also
have increased chances of getting employed and securing
housing. Employment offers these youth a chance to contribute
as taxpaying citizens in the state thus reducing their chances
of recidivism and further decreasing the potential costs of
incarceration."
2)Background. Minors adjudicated delinquent in juvenile court
proceedings may petition the court to have their records
sealed unless they were found to have committed certain
serious offenses. A person may have his or her juvenile court
records sealed by petitioning the court five years or more
after the jurisdiction of the juvenile court has terminated
over the person adjudged a ward of the court or after the
minor appeared before a probation officer, or, in any case, at
any time after the person has reached the age of 18. Under
current law, indigent clients are not liable for the cost of
sealing.
This bill would limit the existing fees for petitioning the
court to seal records to persons 26 years of age or older.
3)Argument in Support: According to Legal Services for
Prisoners with Children, the sponsor of this bill, "Juvenile
records can create barriers to employment and housing for
young people. An unsealed juvenile record can appear on a
background checks and lead to an unfairly adverse employment
or housing decision. Without stable employment and housing,
there is a higher chance that young people will recidivate and
become involved in the adult criminal justice system."
"Current law allows counties to charge young people up to $150
for sealing their juvenile record; a prohibitively expensive
cost for California's poor youth. An inability to access the
juvenile record remedy can result in an inability to access
stable employment and housing."
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4)Related Legislation:
a) AB 666 (Stone), pending in Senate Appropriations,
requires records in the custody of law enforcement
agencies, the probation department, or any other public
agency having records pertaining to the case, to also be
sealed, in a case where a court has ordered a juvenile's
records to be sealed, as specified.
b) AB 989 (Cooper), on Senate floor, authorizes the
district attorney and probation department to access sealed
juvenile records for limited purposes.
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro R. Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081