BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 512 Hearing Date: April 28, 2015
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|Author: |Hill |
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|Version: |April 6, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|MK |
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Subject: Criminal History Information: Health Services
Personnel
HISTORY
Source: San Mateo County
Prior Legislation:AB 1969 (Perea) Chapter 730, Stats. 2014
AB 1511 (Gaines) Chapter 449, Stats 2014
AB 1136 (Huff) Chapter 222, Stats. 2014
Support: Unknown
Opposition:California Public Defenders Association
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to authorize city, county or city
and county health services personnel to receive the criminal
history information of individuals for the purpose of providing
assessment, treatment, rehabilitation or other health care to
those individuals for alcohol abuse, substance abuse, or mental
health issues.
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Existing law requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to
maintain state summary criminal history information. (Penal
Code § 11105(a).)
Existing law authorizes DOJ to furnish state summary criminal
history information to the following specified entities:
the courts of California;
peace officers, as defined;
district attorneys of California;
prosecuting city attorneys;
city attorneys pursuing civil gang injunctions or drug
abatement actions;
probation officers of California;
parole officers of California;
a public defender or attorney of record when
representing a person in proceedings upon a petition for a
certificate of rehabilitation and pardon;
a public defender or attorney of record when
representing a person in a criminal case, or a parole,
mandatory supervision, or postrelease community supervision
revocation or revocation extension proceeding, and if
authorized access by statutory or decisional law;
any agency, officer, or official of the state if the
criminal history information is required to implement a
statute or regulation that expressly refers to specific
criminal conduct applicable to the subject person of the
state summary criminal history information, and contains
requirements or exclusions, or both, expressly based upon
that specified criminal conduct;
any city or county, city and county, district, or any
officer or official thereof if access is needed in order to
assist that agency, officer, or official in fulfilling
employment, certification, or licensing duties, and if the
access is specifically authorized by the city council,
board of supervisors, or governing board of the city,
county, or district if the criminal history information is
required to implement a statute, ordinance, or regulation
that expressly refers to specific criminal conduct
applicable to the subject person of the state summary
criminal history information, and contains requirements or
exclusions, or both, expressly based upon that specified
criminal conduct;
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the subject of the state summary criminal history
information;
any person or entity when access is expressly authorized
by statute if the criminal history information is required
to implement a statute or regulation that expressly refers
to specific criminal conduct applicable to the subject
person of the state summary criminal history information,
and contains requirements or exclusions, or both, expressly
based upon that specified criminal conduct;
Health officers of a city, county, city and county, or
district when in the performance of their official duties
preventing the spread of communicable diseases;
any managing or supervising correctional officer of a
county jail or other county correctional facility;
any humane society, or society for the prevention of
cruelty to animals for the appointment of humane officers;
local child support agencies;
county child welfare agency personnel who have been
delegated the authority of county probation officers to
access state summary criminal history information for the
specified purposes;
the court of a tribe, or court of a consortium of
tribes, that has entered into an agreement with the state
as specified;
child welfare agency personnel of a tribe or consortium
of tribes that has entered into an agreement with the state
as specified;
an officer providing conservatorship investigations;
a person authorized to conduct a guardianship
investigation; and,
a humane officer for the purposes of performing his or
her duties. (Penal Code § 11105 (b).)
Existing law states that DOJ may furnish state summary criminal
history information, when specifically authorized, and
federal-level criminal history information upon a showing of
compelling need to any of the specified agencies, provided that
when information is furnished to assist an agency, officer, or
official of state or local government, a public utility, or any
other entity in fulfilling employment, certification, or
licensing duties, the employer must follow restrictions listed
in the Labor Code. (Penal Code § 11105(c).)
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Existing law states, notwithstanding any other law, a human
resource agency or an employer may request from DOJ records of
all convictions or any arrest pending adjudication involving the
offenses specified of a person who applies for a license,
employment, or volunteer position, in which he or she would have
supervisory or disciplinary power over a minor or any person
under his or her care. Requires DOJ to furnish the information
to the requesting employer and also send a copy of the
information to the applicant. (Penal Code § 11105.3(a).)
Existing law authorizes any local criminal justice agency as
defined to compile local summary criminal history information
and requires the local criminal justice agency to furnish this
information to any of the specified entities. (Penal Code §
13300.)
This bill will add a city, county or city and county health
services personnel who are engaged in efforts to identify and
treat individuals who have alcohol abuse, substance abuse, or
mental health issues, for the purpose of providing assessment,
treatment rehabilitation or other health care to those
individuals to those who can receive local summary criminal
history information.
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
For the past eight years, this Committee has scrutinized
legislation referred to its jurisdiction for any potential
impact on prison overcrowding. Mindful of the United States
Supreme Court ruling and federal court orders relating to the
state's ability to provide a constitutional level of health care
to its inmate population and the related issue of prison
overcrowding, this Committee has applied its "ROCA" policy as a
content-neutral, provisional measure necessary to ensure that
the Legislature does not erode progress in reducing prison
overcrowding.
On February 10, 2014, the federal court ordered California to
reduce its in-state adult institution population to 137.5% of
design capacity by February 28, 2016, as follows:
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143% of design bed capacity by June 30, 2014;
141.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2015; and,
137.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2016.
In February of this year the administration reported that as "of
February 11, 2015, 112,993 inmates were housed in the State's 34
adult institutions, which amounts to 136.6% of design bed
capacity, and 8,828 inmates were housed in out-of-state
facilities. This current population is now below the
court-ordered reduction to 137.5% of design bed capacity."(
Defendants' February 2015 Status Report In Response To February
10, 2014 Order, 2:90-cv-00520 KJM DAD PC, 3-Judge Court, Coleman
v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (fn. omitted).
While significant gains have been made in reducing the prison
population, the state now must stabilize these advances and
demonstrate to the federal court that California has in place
the "durable solution" to prison overcrowding "consistently
demanded" by the court. (Opinion Re: Order Granting in Part and
Denying in Part Defendants' Request For Extension of December
31, 2013 Deadline, NO. 2:90-cv-0520 LKK DAD (PC), 3-Judge Court,
Coleman v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (2-10-14). The Committee's
consideration of bills that may impact the prison population
therefore will be informed by the following questions:
Whether a proposal erodes a measure which has contributed
to reducing the prison population;
Whether a proposal addresses a major area of public safety
or criminal activity for which there is no other
reasonable, appropriate remedy;
Whether a proposal addresses a crime which is directly
dangerous to the physical safety of others for which there
is no other reasonably appropriate sanction;
Whether a proposal corrects a constitutional problem or
legislative drafting error; and
Whether a proposal proposes penalties which are
proportionate, and cannot be achieved through any other
reasonably appropriate remedy.
COMMENTS
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1. Need for This Bill
According to the author:
As in most counties, each year in San Mateo County,
thousands of people become involved with the criminal
justice system. Many of these people are "frequent
flyers," having regular contact with the system due to
alcohol use, substance abuse, and/or mental health
related issues. A parallel phenomenon exists at the
San Mateo County Medical Center Emergency Room, where
some people regularly use expensive emergency room
services for substance abuse, mental health related
issues and routine medical care. Experience suggests
that the populations overlap substantially.
San Mateo County Health System personnel would like to
target specific medical, substance abuse, and/or
mental health services to criminal justice involved
individuals with the aim of linking them to
appropriate care upon discharge, with the hopes of
achieving better outcomes. Targeted interventions
could include steering frequent emergency room users
into ambulatory care services, specialized medication
protocols such as Vivitrol for chronic alcoholics,
full service partnerships for the severely mentally
ill, and more informed service referrals.
However, under existing law, county health services
personnel cannot access local summary criminal justice
information for purposes of program planning and
identifying those who may benefit from enhanced
services.
2. Access to Summary History Information
Existing law sets forth who is authorized to receive criminal
history information compiled by the DOJ or by local agencies.
This bill would add city, county and city and county health
services personnel who are engaged in efforts to identify and
treat individuals who have alcohol abuse, substance abuse, or
mental health issues for the purposes of providing assessment,
treatment rehabilitation or other health care to those
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individuals who can receive criminal history information.
According to the author:
As in most counties, each year in San Mateo County
thousands of people become involved with the criminal
justice system. Many of these people also have
regular contact with the health system due to alcohol
use, substance abuse, and/or mental health related
problems. The San Mateo County Medical Center
Emergency Room has witnessed some individuals
regularly accessing expensive emergency room services
for substance abuse and/or mental health related
problems and routine medical care. Experience
suggests that the populations overlap substantially
and that earlier intervention strategies could be
targeted to reduce both criminal justice system and
emergency department involvement and improve health
outcomes.
Thus, this bill would allow city, county and city and county
health systems to access criminal history information to allow:
County health systems to plan better for the types of
health/behavioral services that would be most
effective in serving the local jail population once
they are released into the community. To do that, the
health staff would be assisted by knowing where they
are already serving the population and where they are
not. It will also provide information on what portion
of the justice-involved population accessing services
is part of the County's Health Plan.
Specifically:
In San Mateo County [the sponsor], health personnel
could use the local justice data inquiry for a variety
of reasons to fully understand a clients' background,
and provide individualized care. Health staff will
need to know why a person is getting arrested, drunk
in public, drugs, domestic violence related to
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alcoholism and the number of occasions this has
occurred. The law enforcement information will serve
to better inform the treatment that an individual may
engage in.
Is it appropriate for city, county and city and county health
officials to access criminal justice information to help with
the treatment of individuals?
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