Amended in Senate May 5, 2015

Amended in Senate April 14, 2015

Senate Bill No. 759

Introduced by Senators Anderson and Hancock

(Coauthors: Senators begin delete Leno end delete begin insert Leno, Liu, end insert and Mitchell)

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer)

February 27, 2015

An act to add Article 7 (commencing with Section 2696) to Chapter 4 of Title 1 of Part 3 of, and to repeal and add Section 2933.6 of, the Penal Code, relating to prisoners.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 759, as amended, Anderson. Prisoners: Secured Housing Units.

Existing law establishes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to oversee the state prison system. Existing law authorizes Security Housing Units for segregation of certain prisoners for disciplinary or security purposes, and because of gang membership or association.

The bill would require the department, commencing July 1, 2016, to collect specified data regarding inmates subject to a term in a Security Housing Unit. The bill would require the Inspector General, commencing January 1, 2018, and biennially thereafter, to use the data to prepare reports for the Legislature on specified criteria pertaining to inmates in a Security Housing Unit and a Psychiatric Services Unit.

Existing law requires a prisoner of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to be awarded credit reductions from his or her term of confinement of 6 months for every 6 months of continuous confinement, as specified. Existing law provides for up to 6 weeks of additional credit in a 12-month period for the successful completion of certain rehabilitative programs, for certain inmates, as specified. Existing law makes a person who is placed in a Security Housing Unit, Psychiatric Services Unit, Behavioral Management Unit, or an Administrative Segregation Unit for specified misconduct, or upon validation as a prison gang member or associate, ineligible to earn credits pursuant to these provisions.

This bill would repeal those provisions and instead begin delete authorize end delete begin insert require end insert the department to establish regulations to allow specified inmates placed in a Security Housing Unit, Psychiatric Services Unit, Behavioral Management Unit, or an Administrative Segregation Unit to earn credits during the time he or she is in the Security Housing Unit, Psychiatric Services Unit, Behavioral Management Unit, or the Administrative Segregation Unit.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Article 7 (commencing with Section 2696) is
added to Chapter 4 of Title 1 of Part 3 of the Penal Code, to read:

 

Article 7.  Security Housing Unit Reports

 

2696.  

(a) Commencing July 1, 2016, the department shall
collect the following data:

(1) Information relating to each offender who is going through,
or has gone through, the validation process for determining a
security threat group affiliate, including the following:

(A) The offender’s gender, age, mental health status, and race.

(B) The outcome at every step of the validation process.

(C) If the offender was validated, the date of validation.

(D) If the offender was validated, the level of validation that
the offender begin delete assigned. end delete begin insert was assigned, and the name of the security
threat group with which the offender was identified end insert begin insert . end insert

(2) Information relating to begin delete the offender end delete begin insert all offenders end insert being
housed in the Security Housing Unit or Psychiatric Services Unit,
including the following:

(A) The offender’s gender, age, mental health status, and race.

(B) The date the offender was placed in the Security Housing
Unit or Psychiatric Services Unit and the date of release.

(C) The reason the offender is serving a Security Housing Unit
term.

begin insert

(D) If the offender is serving an indeterminate Security Housing
Unit term, the progress the offender has made in the Step Down
Program, as defined in Section 3378.3 of Title 15 of the California
Code of Regulations.

end insert begin insert

(E) For offenders in the Step Down Program, the time spent in
each step of the program.

end insert begin delete

(D)

end delete

begin insert (F) end insert  The number of visits from persons other than staff that the
offender was provided while serving a term in the Security Housing
Unit or Psychiatric Services Unit.

begin delete

(E)

end delete

begin insert (G) end insert  The number of phone calls the offender was provided while
serving a term in the Security Housing Unit.

begin delete

(F)

end delete

begin insert (H) end insert  Whether the offender attempted to commit or committed
suicide.

begin delete

(G)

end delete

begin insert (I) end insert  Any disciplinary action taken against the offender, and the
result of that action.

begin delete

(H)

end delete

begin insert (J) end insert  Whether the offender was paroled directly out of the Security
Housing Unit or the Psychiatric Services Unit into the community.

(3) The number of administrative appeals filed by offenders in
the Security Housing Unit or Psychiatric Services Unit, the subject
matter of the appeals, and the outcome of the appeals.

(b) Commencing January 1, 2018, and biennially thereafter, the
Office of the Inspector General shall use the data described in
subdivision (a) to prepare a report to the Legislature that includes,
but is not limited to, the following information:

(1) The number of offenders investigated for security threat
group validation.

(2) The number of cases in which the Office of Correctional
Safety recommended against validation and the outcome of those
cases.

(3) The number of cases in which the security threat group
committee decided not to validate the offender.

(4) The number of offenders who were not initially placed in
the Security Housing Unit or Psychiatric Services Unit but were
sent to the Security Housing Unit or Psychiatric Services Unit
within six months of validation.

(5) The number of offenders placed for an indeterminate
Security Housing Unit term or in the Psychiatric Services Unit.

(6) The number of offenders placed for a determinate Security
Housing Unit term or in the Psychiatric Services Unit.

(7) The average length of time offenders serving an
indeterminate Security Housing Unit term spent in the Security
Housing Unit or the Psychiatric Services Unit, or both.

(8) The number of suicide attempts made by offenders in the
Security Housing Unit and the Psychiatric Services Unit.

(9) The number of suicides by offenders in the Security Housing
Unit and the Psychiatric Services Unit.

(10) The number of offenders in the Security Housing Unit and
the Psychiatric Services Unit who were paroled directly out of the
Security Housing Unit and the Psychiatric Services Unit into the
community.

(11) The number of disciplinary actions taken against offenders
in the Security Housing Unit and the Psychiatric Services Unit,
the type of actions, and the outcomes of the disciplinary actions.

(12) The number of visits by persons other than staff to offenders
in the Security Housing Unit and the Psychiatric Services Unit.

(13) The number of phone calls provided to offenders in the
Security Housing Unit and the Psychiatric Services Unit.

(14) The number of administrative appeals filed by offenders
in the Security Housing Unit or the Psychiatric Services Unit, the
subject matter of the appeals, and the outcomes of those appeals.

(c) The report required by subdivision (b) shall be submitted in
compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

SEC. 2.  

Section 2933.6 of the Penal Code is repealed.

SEC. 3.  

Section 2933.6 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

2933.6.  

(a) The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
begin delete may end delete begin insert shall end insert establish regulations to allow specified inmates placed
in a Security Housing Unit, Psychiatric Services Unit, Behavioral
Management Unit, or an Administrative Segregation Unit to earn
credits pursuant to Section 2933 or 2933.05, or credits as otherwise
specified in regulation, during the time he or she is in the Security
Housing Unit, Psychiatric Services Unit, Behavioral Management
Unit, or the Administrative Segregation Unit. The regulations begin delete shall end delete
begin insert may end insert establish separate classifications of serious disciplinary
infractions to determine the rate of restoration of credits, the time
period required before forfeited credits or a portion thereof may
be restored, and the percentage of forfeited credits that may be
restored for those time periods, not to exceed those percentages
authorized for general population inmates. The regulations shall
provide for credit earning for inmates who successfully complete
specific program performance objectives.

(b) No credits shall be awarded to those inmates pursuant to
this section until the department has adopted regulations pursuant
to subdivision (a).