BILL ANALYSIS
AB 50
Page 1
Date of Hearing: January 31, 2006
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Judy Chu, Chair
AB 50 (Leno) - As Amended: January 26, 2006
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 4-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill creates the Sex Offender Containment and Management
Act of 2006, which makes numerous changes to laws relating to
sex offenders. Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes kidnapping with intent to commit a specified sex offense
punishable by life in prison with the possibility of parole.
2)Increases the penalty, from a misdemeanor to an alternate
felony/misdemeanor, for a person over 21 who contacts a person
under 14 for the purpose of luring that minor from his or her
home, as specified.
3)Increases the aggravated term for lewd and lascivious acts
upon a child under the age of 14 from eight to 10 years.
4)Increases the penalty, from a misdemeanor to an alternate
felony/misdemeanor, for distributing or providing matter
depicting a person under the age of 18 years engaging in or
simulating sexual conduct, or for using a minor to assist in
distributing or providing matter depicting a person under the
age of 18 years engaging in or simulating sexual conduct.
5)Increases the penalty, from a misdemeanor to an alternate
felony/misdemeanor for possessing material depicting sexual
activity of persons under 18, for possession of 100 or more
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items.
6)Prohibits any person who is required to register as a sex
offender from being present on school grounds unless that
person is the parent or guardian of a child attending that
school or has prior written permission from the school.
7)Makes a first offense for continual sexual abuse of a child
eligible for a life sentence.
8)Increases parole from five to 10 years for lewd and lascivious
acts on a child and continuous sexual abuse of child.
9)Requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(DCR) to study the effects of its specialized intensive
high-risk sex offender parole caseload, with a two-year
analysis due January 1, 2009, an initial report January 1,
2010, and a final report January 1, 2012.
10)Requires the DCR to establish a specialized sex offender
treatment program based on a relapse and prevention model for
high-risk sex offender parolees similar to those offenders
targeted by the DCR's existing specialized intensive high-risk
sex offender parole programs.
FISCAL EFFECT
Major ongoing GF costs - in the tens of millions of dollars -
for increased prison penalties, new and expanded prison
programs, and longer parole terms. Specifically, these costs
include:
1)Increased annual GF costs for additional and longer prison
terms. If the increases proposed by this bill increase the
system's sex offender population by just five percent, the
cost increase would ultimately be about $15 million.
2)Longer parole periods for specified sex offenders would likely
result in annual GF costs in excess of $10 million for
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increased caseloads and additional parole revocations.
Extension and potential expansion of DCR's intensive
supervision/relapse prevention program for high-risk sex
offender parolees could exceed $10 million, depending on the
scope of the effort.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . According to the author, "This bill makes
significant changes to the punishment and parole terms of sex
offenders, including adding the continuous sexual abuse of a
child to the "one strike" sex law which would allow the courts
to sentence an offender to a term of 15- or 25-years-to-life,
increasing the term of parole for child molesters and
increasing the aggravated term of commitment for child
molesters. This bill also creates a treatment program for
offenders who are currently in prison but scheduled for
release. The goal is for offenders to begin learning how to
avoid future predatory behavior while still in prison and to
continue with a regimented treatment program while on parole."
2)Related Pending Legislation . SB 1128 (Alquist) would create
the Sex Offender Punishment, Control, and Containment Act of
2006, "a comprehensive strategy to protect California
communities from sex offenders." SB 1128, pending in the
Senate Rules Committee, is currently in outline form only.
3)Floor Amendments :
a) Delete a $15 million appropriation for SAFE teams.
b) Delete an $8 million GF appropriation for GPS devices
and parole staff to monitor high risk sex offenders.
4)Proposed Committee Amendments :
a)Increase the penalty, from a misdemeanor to an alternate
felony/misdemeanor for
possessing material depicting sexual activity of persons under
18, for possession of 10 or
more items.
b)Clarify the proposed language prohibiting a registered sex
offender from entering school grounds to include any school
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grounds or streets or sidewalks.
c) Make two technical code reference corrections.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081