BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 517
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB
517 (Monning)
As Introduced February 26, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 34-1
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Public Safety |7-0 |Quirk, Melendez, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, | |
| | |Lopez, Low, Santiago | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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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.
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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.
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
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,
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g) A person subject to lifetime parole at the time of the
commission of the offense for which he or she is being
released.
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.
4)Limits PRCS to three years.
5)Provides for intermediate sanctions for violating the terms of
PRCS, including "flash incarceration" for up to 10 days.
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.
7)Prohibits the return of an offender who violates conditions of
PRCS to prison.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill has been keyed non-fiscal by
the Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS: According to the author, "Prior to the implementation
of criminal justice realignment under AB 109 (Budget Committee),
Chapter 15, Statutes of 2011, 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
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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.
"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."
Analysis Prepared by:
Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN:
0000960
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