Amended in Senate June 2, 2015

Amended in Senate May 5, 2015

Amended in Senate April 14, 2015

Senate Bill No. 759

Introduced by Senators Anderson and Hancock

(Coauthors: Senators Leno, Liu, and Mitchell)

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer)

February 27, 2015

An act to begin delete 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, end delete begin insert repeal and add Section 2933.6 of end insert 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 begin delete association. end delete

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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.

end delete

begin delete Existing end delete begin insert association. Existing end insert 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 begin insert regarding ineligibility to earn credits end insert and instead require the begin delete department end delete begin insert department, no later than July 1, 2017, end insert 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:

begin delete

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 was assigned, and the name of the security threat
group with which the offender was identified.

(2) Information relating to all offenders 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.

(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.

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

(F) 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.

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

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

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

(J) 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.

end delete

begin delete SEC. 2. end delete
begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

Section 2933.6 of the Penal Code is repealed.

begin delete SEC. 3. end delete
begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

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

2933.6.  

begin delete (a) end delete begin delete   end delete The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
begin delete shall end delete begin insert shall, no later than July 1, 2017, 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 may 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.

begin delete

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

end delete