BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 517
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Date of Hearing: June 16, 2015
Chief Counsel: Gregory Pagan
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Bill Quirk, Chair
SB
517 (Monning) - As Introduced February 26, 2015
SUMMARY: Authorizes a court to release from custody a person on
probation, mandatory supervision, postrelease community
supervision (PRCS), or parole, who is alleged to have violated
the terms of supervision under any terms and conditions the
court deems appropriate unless the person is serving a period of
flash incarceration.
SB 517
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EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires all persons paroled before October 1, 2011 to remain
under the supervision of the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) until jurisdiction is
terminated by operation of law or until parole is discharged.
(Pen. Code, § 3000.09.)
2)Requires the following persons released from state prison on
or after July 1, 2013 to be subject to parole under the
supervision of CDCR:
a) A person who committed a serious felony listed in Penal
Code Section 1192.7(c);
b) A person who committed a violent felony listed in Penal
Code Section 667.5(c);
c) A person serving a sentence under the "Three Strikes"
law;
d) A person classified as a high-risk sex offender;
e) A person determined to be a mentally disordered
offender;
f) A person required to register as a sex offender and
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subject to a parole term exceeding three years at the time
of the commission of the offense for which he or she is
being released; and,
g) A person subject to lifetime parole at the time of the
commission of the offense for which he or she is being
released. (Pen. Code, § 3000.08, subd. (a) and (i).)
3)States that all other offenders released from prison on or
after July 1, 2013, to be placed on PRCS under the supervision
of a county agency, such as a probation department. (Pen.
Code, § 3000.08(b).)
4)Limits PRCS to three years. (Pen. Code, § 3451, subd. (a).)
5)Provides for intermediate sanctions for violating the terms of
PRCS, including "flash incarceration" for up to 10 days.
(Pen. Code, § 3454.)
6)Specifies that if PRCS is revoked, the offender may be
incarcerated in the county jail for a period not to exceed 180
days for each custodial sanction. (Pen. Code, § 3455, subd.
(d).)
7)Prohibits the return of an offender who violates conditions of
PRCS to prison. (Pen. Code, § 3458.)
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8)Specifies that a parolee held in custody for a pending parole
violation before October 1, 2011, may be returned to state
prison for the violation for period not to exceed 12 months.
(Pen Code § 3057, subd. (a).)
9)Specifies that a parolee held in custody for a pending parole
violation on or after October 1, 2011 will be returned to
county jail, rather than state prison, for up to 180 days of
incarceration per revocation. (Pen. Code § 3056, subd. (a).)
10)Authorizes a county agency responsible for PRCS to determine
additional appropriate conditions of supervision consistent
with public safety, including continuous electronic
monitoring, order the provision of appropriate rehabilitation
and treatment services, determine appropriate incentives, and
determine and order appropriate responses to alleged
violations, which can include, but shall not be limited to,
immediate, structured, and intermediate sanctions up to and
including referral to a reentry court, or flash incarceration
in a county jail. Periods of flash incarceration are
encouraged as one method of punishment for violations of an
offender's condition of post release supervision. (Pen. Code,
§ 3454, subd. (b).)
11)Defines "flash incarceration" as a period of detention in
county jail due to a violation of an offender's conditions of
post release supervision. The length of the detention period
can range between one and 10 consecutive days. Flash
incarceration is a tool that may be used by each county agency
responsible for post release supervision. Shorter, but if
necessary more frequent, periods of detention for violations
of an offender's post release supervision conditions shall
appropriately punish an offender while preventing the
disruption in a work or home establishment that typically
arises from longer term revocations. (Pen. Code § 3454, subd.
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(c).)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "Prior to
the implementation of criminal justice realignment under
AB 109, the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation had the authority to issue arrest warrants
for parole violations along with issuing and recalling
parole holds. While the courts were given the statutory
authority to issue arrest warrants for parole violations
under realignment, the legislation failed to give
explicit statutory authority for the courts to recall a
parole hold. Without this statutory authority, a
supervising parole or probation officer has the sole
authority over custody decisions of a supervised
individual in jail on a parole hold.
"When a supervised person is rearrested and placed in
custody, the supervising officer can either impose
sanctions on the offender, such as flash incarceration,
or petition the courts to have their parole revoked.
Until that happens, however, the courts have no statutory
authority to release the individual from the parole hold.
Additionally, an October 2014 appellate court decision,
Williams v. Superior Court (2014) 230 Cal.App.4th 636,
now requires the supervising officer to act within 10
days of placing a supervised person on a parole hold, by
either imposing sanctions or initiating revocation
proceedings with the courts.
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"SB 517 will provide the courts with discretion when
determining the custody status of an individual on
probation, parole, or post release community supervision
who is placed in county jail on a parole hold for
violating their terms of supervision. This measure will
correct an oversight of realignment and ensure that
courts have the same authority CDCR had prior to
realignment."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Judicial Council of California (Sponsor)
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Judges Association
California Public Defenders Association
California Police Chiefs Association
Californians for Safety and Justice
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Opposition
SB 517
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None
Analysis Prepared by:Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744