BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 512 (Hill) - Criminal History Information: Health Services
Personnel
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|Version: April 6, 2015 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 4 - 2 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: May 11, 2015 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 512 would require local criminal justice agencies
to furnish summary criminal history information to 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, as specified.
Fiscal
Impact: Potentially significant state-reimbursable costs
(General Fund) for local criminal justice agencies to provide
local health services personnel with summary criminal history
information. Local criminal justice agencies are authorized to
charge a fee for the provision of criminal history information
for purposes of employment (hiring), licensing, or certification
purposes. However, to the extent agencies are not authorized to
charge a fee for the provision of criminal history information
for the purposes of "identification and treatment," local
agencies could potentially submit claims for reimbursement of
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those costs (General Fund).
Background: Existing law requires a local criminal justice agency to
record and store specified arrest and identification data, also
known as local summary criminal history information, regarding
persons arrested by the agency.
Existing law requires each local agency to furnish local summary
criminal history information to specified entities, including,
but not limited to, the courts of the state, peace officers,
district attorneys, probation officers, and parole officers,
when the information is needed in the course of their duties.
(Penal Code (PC) § 13300(b).)
Under existing law, a local agency may furnish local summary
criminal history information, upon a showing of compelling need,
to specified entities, including but not limited to a public
utility, an animal control officer, and peace officers from
other states and countries, provided that when the information
is furnished to assist an agency, officer, or official, that a
specified provision of the Labor Code apply. (PC § 13300(c).)
Existing law provides that whenever local summary criminal
history information furnished is to be used for employment,
licensing, or certification purposes, the local agency shall
charge the person or entity making the request a fee which it
determines to be sufficient to reimburse the local agency for
the cost of furnishing the information, provided that no fee
shall be charged to any public law enforcement agency for local
summary criminal history information furnished to assist it in
employing, licensing, or certifying a person who is applying for
employment with the agency as a peace officer or criminal
investigator. Any state agency required to pay a fee to the
local agency for information received under this section may
charge the applicant a fee sufficient to reimburse the agency
for the expense. (PC § 13300(f).)
Proposed Law:
This bill would require local criminal justice agencies to
SB 512 (Hill) Page 2 of
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furnish summary criminal history information to 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 purpose
of providing assessment, treatment, rehabilitation, or other
health care to those individuals.
Prior
Legislation: AB1960 (Perea) Chapter 730/2014 requires the
Director of a state hospital or a clinician, as defined, to
obtain the state summary criminal history information for a
patient committed to the Department of State Hospitals, as
specified.
AB 1511 (Gaines) Chapter 449/2014 authorizes local criminal
justice agencies to provide local summary criminal history
information to an animal control officer for the purposes of
performing his or her official duties. The bill permits a local
agency to charge a reasonable fee sufficient to cover the costs
of providing that information.
AB 1136 (Huff) Chapter 222/2014 authorizes the Department of
Social Services and county child welfare agencies to share
information with respect to applicants, licensees, certificates,
or individuals who have been the subject of any administrative
action resulting in the denial, suspension, probation, or
revocation of a license, permit, or certificate, or in the
exclusion of a person from a facility who is subject to a
background check.
Staff
Comments: By requiring local criminal justice agencies to furnish
criminal history information to local agency health personnel,
this bill creates a state-mandated local program. Although local
criminal justice agencies are authorized to charge a fee for the
provision of criminal history information for purposes of
employment (hiring), licensing, or certification purposes, to
the extent local criminal justice agencies are not authorized
under existing law to charge a fee for the provision of criminal
history information for the purposes of "identification and
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treatment" of individuals, the increased costs to local criminal
justice agencies could potentially qualify as a reimbursable
state mandate, requiring a subvention of funds from the State.
The magnitude of costs would be dependent on the volume of
requests from local health personnel statewide, which is unknown
at this time, but could be significant.
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