BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Carole Migden, Chair S
2005-2006 Regular Session B
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SB 1240 (Hollingsworth) 0
As Introduced February 7, 2006
Hearing date: March 28, 2006
Uncodified Law (URGENCY)
AA:br
SEXUAL ASSAULT FELONY ENFORCEMENT TEAMS:
GENERAL FUND APPROPRIATION
HISTORY
Source: Author
Prior Legislation: SB 1049 (Hollingsworth) - 2005; failed
passage, Senate Public Safety
SB 52 (Hollingsworth) - 2004; failed passage,
Senate Public Safety
AB 1858 (Hollingsworth) - Ch. 1090, Stats. 2002
SB 499 (Figueroa) - 1999; amended into unrelated
bill
AB 371 (Figueroa) -1997-98 Session; died in Senate
Appropriations
Support: Lambda Letters Project; Sacramento County Sheriff's
Department; California State Sheriffs' Association;
California District Attorneys Association; Office of
the Attorney General; California Probation, Parole and
Correctional Association; Junior Leagues of California
State Public Affairs Committee; League of California
Cities
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Opposition:None known
KEY ISSUE
SHOULD $15 MILLION BE APPROPRIATED FROM THE GENERAL FUND TO THE
CONTROLLER FOR DISTRIBUTION TO COUNTY SHERIFFS FOR THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF COUNTY AND REGIONAL SAFE TEAMS, AS SPECIFIED?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to appropriate $15 million from the
General Fund to the Controller for distribution to county
sheriffs for the implementation of county and regional SAFE
teams, as specified.
Current law establishes the "County Sexual Assault Felony
Enforcement" Team program, which authorizes any county to
"establish and implement a sexual assault felony enforcement
(SAFE) team program," as specified. (Penal Code 13887.)
Current law requires that the mission of SAFE "shall be to reduce
violent sexual assault offenses in the county through proactive
surveillance and arrest of habitual sexual offenders, as defined
in Section 667.71, and strict enforcement of registration
requirements for sex offenders pursuant to Section 290. . . . The
proactive surveillance and arrest authorized by this chapter
shall be conducted within the limits of existing statutory and
constitutional law." (Penal Code 13887.1.)
Current law provides that regional SAFE teams may consist of
officers and agents from the following law enforcement agencies:
Police departments.
Sheriff's departments.
The Bureau of Investigations of the Office of the
District Attorney.
County probation departments. (Penal Code 13887.2.)
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Current law provides that, in addition, to "the extent that
these agencies have available resources, the following law
enforcement agencies:
(1) The Bureau of Investigations of the California Department
of Justice.
(2) The California Highway Patrol.
(3) The State Department of Corrections.
(4) The Federal Bureau of Investigation." (Penal Code
13887.2(e).)
Current law states the following objectives for this program:
To identify, monitor, arrest, and assist in the prosecution of
habitual sexual offenders who violate the terms and conditions
of their probation or parole, who fail to comply with the
registration requirements of Section 290, or who commit new
sexual assault offenses.
To collect data to determine if the proactive law enforcement
procedures adopted by the program are effective in reducing
violent sexual assault offenses.
To develop procedures for operating a multijurisdictional
regional task force.
(Penal Code 13887.3.)
Current law provides that "[n]othing in this chapter shall be
construed to authorize the otherwise unlawful violation of any
person's rights under the law." (Penal Code 13887.4.)
This bill would appropriate $15 million from the General Fund to
the Controller "for distribution to county sheriffs for the
implementation of county and regional SAFE team programs."
This bill would provide that no "county may use funds provided
pursuant to this act to supplant any other sources of funding."
This bill contains the following legislative intent:
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Habitual sexual assault offenders pose a significant risk to
the welfare and safety of the residents of California.
Predatory sex offenders frequently travel to areas outside of
the jurisdictions in which they reside to evade surveillance
and possible arrest by local law enforcement agencies for
probation or parole violations.
Recent data shows that approximately 44 percent of sexual
predators are not registering as required under Megan's Law,
and law enforcement officials are unaware of their current
location.
The Legislature has encouraged the formation of regional law
enforcement task forces consisting of officers and agents from
several law enforcement agencies organized for the explicit
purpose of reducing violent sexual assaults through proactive
surveillance and arrests of habitual sexual offenders.
The funding of the Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE)
Teams is critical to tracking sexually violent predators and
protecting the welfare and safety of Californians.
COMMENTS
1. Stated Need for This Bill
The author states in part:
Thousands of Megan's Law sex-offenders are
literally unaccounted for in this state. This
puts the public at tremendous risk. Sexual
Assault Felony Enforcement teams provide a
valuable tool for law enforcement to monitor and
track offenders required to register under the
law. Previous Hollingsworth bills funding SAFE
teams (SB 52 from 2004 and SB 1049 from 2005)
have received broad support from key law
enforcement agencies across California but have
nevertheless failed passage.
THIS BILL : SB 1240 would allocate $15, 000, 000
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(fifteen million) from the General Fund for the
funding of SAFE teams.
SB 1240 would help fund creation of a network of
SAFE teams throughout California. These teams
would be dedicated to ensuring the majority of
registered sex offenders are, and will remain, in
compliance with state law.
2. Prior Legislation
This bill is nearly identical to the author's SB 1049 from last
year, which failed this Committee (3-1; 2-3 on reconsideration).
The author also carried an identical measure, SB 52, in the
previous legislative session. That measure failed passage in
the Senate Committee on Public Safety (2-4) on January 13, 2004.
3. Related Legislation and Proposals
This Committee passed SB 1128 (Alquist) on March 15, 2006. That
measure, now pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee,
would mandate that every county establish a SAFE team.
AB 50 (Leno), pending before this Committee, proposes $15
million for SAFE teams, "allocated by the Controller to regional
SAFE team programs in accordance with the proportionate share of
sex offender registrants residing within a SAFE team
jurisdiction, as determined by the Department of Justice. . . .
By accepting the funds provided by this act, local entities
agree to report in writing to the Department of Finance on or
before August 15, 2007. The Department of Finance shall make
the report available to the Legislature. The report shall
include, but not be limited to, the data measuring the
objectives identified in Section 13887.3 of the Penal Code."
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The Governor's proposed 2006-07 budget includes $6 million local
assistance grant funding in the Office of Emergency Services to
support the activities of SAFE teams statewide. This funding is
proposed in the Governor's budget to increase by $2 million
beginning in 2007-08, for an ongoing program of $8 million.
4. Absence of Funding Allocation Method; Author's Intended
Amendments
This bill is silent on how this money would be allocated to
county sheriffs. The author's office indicates that the author
intends to amend this bill to provide for competitive grants.
If this bill is amended to provide for competitive grants, the
author and/or the Committee may wish to discuss the criteria
that would be used to award grants.
IF THIS BILL IS AMENDED TO PROVIDE FOR COMPETITIVE GRANTS, HOW
WILL THOSE GRANTS BE AWARDED? WHAT CRITERIA WILL BE USED?
In addition, as currently drafted the bill provides for the
Controller to distribute these grants. The author and/or the
Committee may wish to discuss whether another entity may be more
appropriately suited for this task. For example, the
Corrections Standards Authority, formerly the Board of
Corrections, works closely with local law enforcement and has
experience in administering competitive state grants. For these
reasons, CSA may be a better agency for this grant. Other
entities the author and/or the Committee may wish to consider
would be the Office of the Attorney General or the Law
Enforcement and Victim Services Division of the Office of
Emergency Services, which succeeded the now-defunct Governor's
Office of Criminal Justice Planning.
WHAT ENTITY IS BEST SUITED TO ADMINISTER THE GRANT PROGRAM
PROPOSED BY THIS BILL (AS AMENDED)?
5. Absence of Success or Impact Measurements
This bill contains no provisions to track the success or impact
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of this program. In addition, this bill contains no provisions
requiring any accounting of how this funding would be spent,
other than for the implementation of SAFE teams as described in
statute.
SHOULD THIS BILL BE AMENDED TO REQUIRE FUNDING RECIPIENTS TO
COLLECT SPECIFIED DATA DESIGNED TO ASSESS ITS IMPACT AND
EFFECTIVENESS?
ARE THERE OTHER ACCOUNTING PROVISIONS THIS BILL SHOULD REQUIRE?
6. Legislative Findings and Declarations
This bill contains legislative findings and declarations
specified above. Some of this intent language is identical to
findings and declarations contained in the author's measure last
session codifying SAFE teams. One finding is based on recent
news reports concerning the number of registered sex offenders
in violation of registration statutes.
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