BILL ANALYSIS
AB 169
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 169 (Portantino)
As Amended April 14, 2009
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 6-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
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|Ayes:|Solorio, Hagman, |Ayes:|De Leon, Nielsen, |
| |Furutani, Gilmore, Hill, | |Ammiano, Davis, Duvall, |
| |Skinner | |Fuentes, Hall, Harkey, |
| | | |Jones, Miller, John A. |
| | | |Perez, Price, Skinner, |
| | | |Solorio, Audra Stickland, |
| | | |Torlakson |
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SUMMARY : Adds custodial officers to the list of persons who
may seek to have an arrestee's blood tested, either voluntarily
or by court order, for specified communicable diseases when
exposed to an arrestee's bodily fluids while acting within the
scope of his or her duties.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Allows a peace officer, firefighter, or emergency medical
personnel who, while acting within the scope of his or her
duties, is exposed to an arrestee's blood or bodily fluids, to
do the following:
a) Prior to filing a petition with the court, a licensed
health care provider shall notify the arrestee of the
bloodborne pathogen exposure and make a good-faith effort
to obtain the voluntary informed consent of the arrestee or
the arrestee's authorized legal representative to perform a
test for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), hepatitis B,
and hepatitis C. The voluntary informed consent shall be in
writing. Once consent is given in writing, the arrestee
shall provide three specimens of blood for testing, as
provided;
b) If voluntary informed consent is not given in writing,
the affected individual may petition, ex parte, the court
for an order requiring testing as provided in this chapter.
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The petition shall include a written certification by a
health care professional that an exposure, including the
nature and extent of the exposure, has occurred; and,
c) The court shall promptly conduct a hearing. If the
court finds that probable cause exists to believe that a
possible bloodborne pathogen exposure took place between
the arrestee and the peace officer, firefighter, or
emergency medical personnel, as specified, the court shall
order that the arrestee provide three specimens of blood
for testing, as provided.
2)Defines "bloodborne pathogen exposure" to be a percutaneous
injury, including, but not limited to, a needle stick or cut
with a sharp object, or the contact of non-intact skin or
mucous membranes with any of the bodily fluids, in accordance
with the most current bloodborne pathogen exposure definition
established by the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
3)Defines "bodily fluids" to include the following: blood,
tissue, mucous containing visible blood, semen, and vaginal
secretions.
4)Declares the people of the State of California find that
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), AIDS-related
conditions, and other communicable diseases pose a major
threat to the public health and safety. The health and safety
of the public, victims of sexual crimes, and peace officers,
firefighters, and custodial personnel who may come into
contact with infected persons, have not been adequately
protected by law. The purpose of this bill is to require that
information that may be vital to the health and safety of the
public, victims of certain crimes, certain defendants and
minors, and custodial personnel, custodial medical personnel,
peace officers, firefighters and emergency medical personnel
put at risk in the course of their official duties, be
obtained and disclosed in an appropriate manner in order that
precautions can be taken to preserve their health and the
health of others or that those persons can be relieved from
groundless fear of infection.
5)States every person confined in any local detention facility
who commits a battery by gassing upon the person of any peace
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officer or employee of the local detention facility is guilty
of aggravated battery and shall be punished by imprisonment in
a county jail or by imprisonment in the state prison for two,
three, or four years.
6)Defines "gassing" as intentionally placing or throwing, or
causing to be placed or thrown, upon the person of another any
human excrement or other bodily fluids or bodily substances or
any mixture containing human excrement or other bodily fluids
or bodily substances that result in actual contact with the
person's skin or membranes.
7)Allows a person in charge of the local detention facility to
use every available means to immediately investigate all
reported or suspected batteries by gassing, including, but not
limited to, the use of forensically acceptable means of
preserving and testing the suspected gassing substance to
confirm the presence of human excrement or other bodily fluids
or bodily substances. If there is probable cause to believe
that the inmate has committed battery by gassing, the chief
medical officer of the local detention facility, or his or her
designee, may, when he or she deems it medically necessary to
protect the health of an officer or employee who may have been
subject to a violation of this section, order the inmate to
receive an examination or test for hepatitis or tuberculosis
or both hepatitis and tuberculosis on either a voluntary or
involuntary basis immediately after the event, and
periodically thereafter as determined to be necessary by the
medical officer in order to ensure that further hepatitis or
tuberculosis transmission does not occur. These decisions
shall be consistent with an occupational exposure as defined
by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The results
of any examination or test shall be provided to the officer or
employee who has been subject to a reported or suspected
violation of this section.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis, likely negligible state court costs/savings
to the extent this bill results in additional/fewer hearing for
county detention personnel forced to pursue a court hearing to
obtain an arrestee's blood sample in the wake of a bodily fluid
exposure.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "This bill would add
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custodial officers to the list of persons who may seek to have
an arrestee's blood tested, either voluntarily or by court
order, for specified communicable diseases when the custodial
officer is exposed to that arrestee's blood or bodily fluids, as
defined, while the custodial officer is acting within the scope
of his or her duties.
"Custodial officers often come in contact with bodily fluids of
persons who have been arrested. AB 169 will extend the benefits
of existing testing provisions to them."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Nicole J. Hanson / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0000317