BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1431|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1431
Author: Morrell (R)
Amended: 4/12/16
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 4/5/16
AYES: Jackson, Moorlach, Anderson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning,
Wieckowski
SUBJECT: Service of summons or subpoena
SOURCE: Conference of California Bar Associations
DIGEST: This bill allows investigators employed by an office of
a district attorney or public defender to gain access to gated
communities for a reasonable amount of time for the sole purpose
of performing lawful service of process or service of subpoena
upon displaying a current driver's license or other
identification, and a badge or other confirmation that the
individual is acting in his or her capacity as an investigator
employed by an office of a district attorney or public defender.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Requires the registration of and governs specified persons who
qualify as process servers, as specified. Provides that a
person who receives or expects specific compensation for
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serving process more than 10 times in a year must file and
maintain a certificate of registration as a process server in
the appropriate county.
2)Provides, with respect to gated communities staffed at the
time service of process is attempted by a guard or other
security personnel assigned to control access to the
community, that notwithstanding any other law, any person
shall be granted access to a gated community for a reasonable
period of time for the sole purpose of performing lawful
service of process or service of a subpoena upon displaying a
current driver's license or other identification, and one of
the following:
A badge or other confirmation that the individual is
acting in his or her capacity as a representative of a
county sheriff or marshal; or
Evidence of current registration as a process server or
of licensure as a private investigator under the Business
and Professions Code.
This bill adds to the above, authority for an investigator
employed by a government entity to gain access to a gated
community for a reasonable period of time, for the sole purpose
of performing lawful service of process or service of subpoena
upon displaying both (1) a current driver's license or other
identification, and (2) either a badge or other confirmation
that the individual is acting in his or her capacity as an
investigator employed by an office of a district attorney or
public defender.
Background
In 1994, AB 3307 (Takasugi, Chapter 691, Statutes of 1994) added
Section 415.21 to the Code of Civil Procedure to allow for
registered process servers or representatives of a county's
sheriff's or marshal's office to gain access to a gated
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community in order to perform service of process, as prescribed.
That section was added in response to difficulties witnessed
with serving process in gated communities, and was later
expanded to include access to perform service of subpoenas.
In 2012, recognizing that California law allows licensed private
investigators to perform service of process but does not provide
those investigators with the statutory authority under Section
415.21 to enter gated communities in the same fashion as
registered process servers or county sheriff's and marshal's
representatives in order to perform that service, the
Legislature enacted AB 1720 (Torres, Chapter 113, Statutes of
2012) to allow licensed private investigators to also enter a
gated community for a reasonable amount of time and for the sole
purpose of performing lawful service of process or service of
subpoena, upon showing specified identification. That bill also
clarified that registered process servers and county sheriff's
and marshal's representatives who enter to perform service of
process or subpoena are also entering under those limited
conditions.
This bill now allows investigators employed by an office of a
district attorney or public defender to gain access to gated
communities for a reasonable amount of time for the sole purpose
of performing lawful service of process or service of subpoena
upon providing proper identification, as specified under
existing law.
Comments
As stated by the author:
Private guard staff of gated communities can and do deny
entrance to process servers who do not have a badge
identifying that person as a peace officer, or official
identification as a registered process server or private
investigator.
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Although they are employees of public agencies engaged in
investigative work and also carry badges, public defender
investigators are not peace officers and often are not
registered process servers. Even though district attorney
investigators may be peace officers, they do not fall within
the three categories found in existing law. For these reasons,
many of these investigators have been denied access to gated
communities, even though they are authorized by statute [ . .
. ] to serve process generally. This requires the agencies in
question to either impose upon the local sheriff or marshal's
office, or spend taxpayer dollars to hire a registered process
server or private investigator.
SB 1431 would add investigators employed by public agencies to
the list of persons permitted access to gated communities
under [Code of Civil Procedure Section] 415.21, subject to
that section's requirements and limitations.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified4/13/16)
Conference of California Bar Associations (source)
California District Attorneys Association
OPPOSITION: (Verified4/14/16)
None received
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Prepared by:Ronak Daylami / JUD. / (916) 651-4113
4/13/16 15:58:01
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