BILL NUMBER: AB 999 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 20, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 30, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 10, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Skinner
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Hall, Swanson, and Torlakson)
(Coauthor: Senator Yee)
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to amend Section 1719 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to juveniles.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 999, as amended, Skinner. Juveniles: Division of Juvenile
Facilities.
Existing law sets forth the powers and duties of the Division of
Juvenile Facilities in the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation with respect to wards in its custody, including, but
not limited to, the return of persons to the court of commitment for
redisposition by the court, determination of offense category, and
setting of parole consideration dates. Existing law requires the
department to promulgate policies and regulations implementing a
departmentwide system of graduated sanctions for addressing ward
disciplinary matters, including extending a ward's parole
consideration date, subject to appeal, from one to not more than 12
months, for a sustained serious misconduct violation, as specified.
The department is also authorized to promulgate regulations to
establish a process for granting wards who have successfully
responded to disciplinary sanctions a reduction of up to 50% of any
time acquired for disciplinary matters.
This bill would revise and recast these provisions by including
good behavior time credits and program time credits among the powers
and duties of the division. The bill would require the projected
board date, formerly referred to as the parole consideration date, of
a ward to be advanced no less than one day earlier for every day of
satisfactory performance, as defined, in one or more credit
qualifying programs, including performance in education,
rehabilitation, therapeutic, work, or other programs meant to prepare
a ward for successful reentry into society. The bill would require
the division to promulgate policies and regulations implementing a
divisionwide system of graduated sanctions for addressing ward
disciplinary matters. The bill would prohibit the division from
extending or postponing a ward's projected board date, but would
permit forfeiture of not more than 6 months of combined program and
good behavior credits for sustained serious misconduct. The bill
would require the division to provide a document signed by a division
official to each ward defining what conduct constitutes serious
misconduct. The bill would also provide that program credits earned
before January 1, 2010, would be honored. The bill would require the
division to allow wards who received projected board date extensions
after January 1, 2009, and before January 1, 2010, and who have
successfully responded to disciplinary sanctions a reinstatement of
up to 100% of the time added.
This bill would prohibit the department from extending a ward's
parole consideration date, and would require the department to
promulgate regulations to establish a process for granting a ward
whose parole consideration hearing date was delayed due to
disciplinary sanctions prior to January 1, 2011, a reduction of up to
100% of any time acquired for disciplinary matters.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1719 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code is amended to read:
1719. (a) Commencing July 1, 2005, the following powers and
duties shall be exercised and performed by the Board of Parole
Hearings: discharges of commitment, orders to parole and conditions
thereof, revocation or suspension of parole, and disciplinary
appeals.
(b) Any ward may appeal an adjustment to his or her parole
consideration date to a panel comprised of at least two
commissioners.
(c) The following powers and duties shall be exercised and
performed by the Division of Juvenile Facilities: return of persons
to the court of commitment for redisposition by the court,
determination of offense category, setting of parole consideration
dates, conducting annual reviews, treatment program orders,
institution placements, furlough placements, return of nonresident
persons to the jurisdiction of the state of legal residence,
disciplinary decisionmaking, and referrals pursuant to Section 1800.
(d) The department shall promulgate policies and regulations
implementing a departmentwide system of graduated sanctions for
addressing ward disciplinary matters. The disciplinary decisionmaking
system shall be employed as the disciplinary system in facilities
under the jurisdiction of the Division of Juvenile Facilities, and
shall provide a framework for handling disciplinary matters in a
manner that is consistent, timely, proportionate, and ensures the due
process rights of wards. The department shall develop and implement
a system of graduated sanctions which distinguishes between minor,
intermediate, and serious misconduct. The department may
shall not extend a ward's parole consideration
date , subject to appeal pursuant to subdivision (b), from
one to not more than 12 months, inclusive, for a sustained serious
misconduct violation if all other sanctioning options have been
considered and determined to be unsuitable in light of the ward's
previous case history and the circumstances of the misconduct. In any
case in which a parole consideration date has been extended, the
disposition report shall clearly state the reasons for the extension.
The length of any parole consideration date extension shall be based
on the seriousness of the misconduct, the ward's prior disciplinary
history, the ward's progress toward treatment objectives, the ward's
earned program credits, and any extenuating or mitigating
circumstances. The department shall promulgate regulations to
implement a table of sanctions to be used in determining parole
consideration date extensions. The . For
wards whose parole consideration hearing dates were delayed due to
disciplinary sanctions prior to January 1, 2011, the department
also may shall promulgate regulations
to establish a process for granting those wards who have
successfully responded to disciplinary sanctions a reduction of up to
50 100 percent of any time acquired
for disciplinary matters.
SECTION 1. Section 1719 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code is amended to read:
1719. (a) On and after July 1, 2005, the following powers and
duties shall be exercised and performed by the Board of Parole
Hearings: discharges of commitment, orders to parole and conditions
thereof, revocation or suspension of parole, and disciplinary
appeals.
(b) Any ward may appeal an adjustment to his or her projected
board date to a panel comprised of at least two commissioners.
(c) The following powers and duties shall be exercised and
performed by the Division of Juvenile Facilities: return of persons
to the court of commitment for redisposition by the court,
determination of offense category, setting of projected board dates,
conducting annual reviews, treatment program orders, program time
credits, good behavior time credits institution placements, furlough
placements, return of nonresident persons to the jurisdiction of the
state of legal residence, disciplinary decisionmaking, and referrals
pursuant to Section 1800.
(d) Program time credits shall apply for satisfactory performance
in one or more credit qualifying programs, including, but not limited
to, education, rehabilitation, therapeutic, work, vocational
education, training, drug treatment, anger management, or other
programs meant to prepare a ward for successful reentry into society.
For every day of satisfactory performance in one or more credit
qualifying programs, as designated by the Chief Deputy Secretary for
Juvenile Justice, the projected board date of a ward shall be
advanced no less than one day earlier.
(e) For the purposes of this section, "satisfactory performance"
means progress in a credit-qualifying program, such as any one of the
following: completion of assigned work, continuing or improved
participation in programming or class work, continuing or improved
cooperation with the instructor or person in charge, substantial
compliance with instructions, or meeting requirements for
participation in assigned activity.
(1) Failure to work or participate in program activities for
reasons which are beyond the ward's control shall not be cause for
denial or forfeiture of participation credit. These circumstances may
include, but are not limited to, the following:
(A) The ward is medically excluded or restricted from work or
program activities on a temporary basis because of illness or injury.
(B) The ward has failed to perform or participate after
demonstrating a reasonable effort in the specified activity.
(C) The ward is restricted from reporting to or participating in
an assigned work or program activity by an order or action of
institution staff unrelated to a disciplinary infraction by the ward.
(f) Good behavior time credits shall be provided independently of
program credit for substantial compliance with rules of the
institution, and substantial compliance with instructions from staff,
the instructor, or the person in charge. For every day of
substantial compliance with disciplinary rules and instructions, a
ward shall have his or her projected board date advanced no less than
one-half day.
(g) The division shall promulgate policies and regulations
implementing a divisionwide system of graduated sanctions for
addressing ward disciplinary matters. The disciplinary decisionmaking
system shall be employed as the disciplinary system in facilities
under the jurisdiction of the Division of Juvenile Facilities, and
shall provide a framework for handling disciplinary matters in a
manner that is consistent, timely, proportionate, and ensures the due
process rights of wards. The division shall not extend or postpone a
ward's projected board date. Sanctions for sustained serious
misconduct may include forfeiture of not more than six months of
combined program and good behavior credits established pursuant to
this chapter, if all other sanctioning options have been considered
and determined to be unsuitable in light of the ward's previous case
history and the circumstances of the misconduct. In any case in which
a program time or good behavior credit has been forfeited, the
disposition report shall clearly state the reasons for the
forfeiture. The length of any credit forfeiture shall be based on the
seriousness of the misconduct, the ward's prior disciplinary
history, the ward's progress toward treatment objectives, the ward's
earned program or good behavior credits, and any extenuating or
mitigating circumstances. The department shall promulgate regulations
to implement a table of sanctions to be used in determining program
or good behavior time credit forfeitures. The department also shall
promulgate regulations to establish a process for granting wards who
have successfully responded to disciplinary sanctions a reinstatement
of up to 100 percent of any credit forfeited for disciplinary
matters. A document signed by a department official shall be provided
to each ward describing what defines "serious misconduct."
(h) No less than every six months, a ward's projected board date
shall be adjusted according to the net credit earned since the last
adjustment.
(i) Program credits earned before January 1, 2010, shall be
honored. The division shall allow wards who received projected board
date extensions after January 1, 2009, and before January 1, 2010,
and who have successfully responded to disciplinary sanctions a
reinstatement of up to 100 percent of the time added.
(j) Nothing in this section shall preclude the division from
providing credits or other incentives for other desirable behaviors
or program participation.