BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1431| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 SB 1431 Page 2 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 SB 1431 Page 3 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. SB 1431 Page 4 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 SB 1431 Page 5 Prepared by:Ronak Daylami / JUD. / (916) 651-4113 4/13/16 15:58:01 **** END ****