BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1502
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Date of Hearing: August 10, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mike Feuer, Chair
AB 1502 (Eng) - As Amended: June 16, 2010
PROPOSED CONSENT (FOR CONCURRENCE)
SUBJECT : NUISANCE ABATEMENT: CIVIL ACTION
KEY ISSUE : Should a county counsel be authorized to bring a
civil action to abate a nuisance in the same manner as is
currently authorized for a district attorney or a city attorney?
SYNOPSIS
Existing law authorizes a district attorney or a city attorney
to bring an action to abate a public nuisance, a controlled
substances nuisance, or a gambling or prostitution nuisance.
According to the author, however, because district attorneys
generally only handle criminal cases and city attorneys can only
bring criminal or civil actions within city limits, there is
often no authority who can bring civil actions to abate a
nuisance in rural and unincorporated areas. This bill would
remedy that problem by giving the county counsel that same
authority to bring nuisance abatement actions that is now
enjoyed by district attorneys and city attorneys. The bill
would also require the county counsel, consistent with the
requirements for district attorneys and city attorneys under
existing law, to file a report on the use of abatement actions
with the Senate and Assembly Committees on Judiciary by October
1, 2013. The bill is sponsored by the Los Angeles County
Sheriff's Department. There is no known opposition to the bill.
The bill passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 5-0
vote and off the Senate floor on a 34-0 vote.
SUMMARY : Authorizes a county counsel to bring a civil action to
abate a public nuisance, a controlled substances nuisance, or a
gambling or prostitution nuisance, as specified, and to submit a
report to the Senate and Assembly Judiciary Committees on the
use of abatement actions by October 1, 2013.
EXISTING LAW :
AB 1502
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1)Defines a nuisance as anything which is injurious to health,
including the illegal sale of controlled substances, or is
indecent or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the
free use of property, so as to interfere with the comfortable
enjoyment of life or property, or unlawfully obstruct the free
passage or use, in the customary manner, of any navigable
lake, or river, bay stream, canal, or basin of any public
park, square, street, or highway.
2)Additionally states that every building or place used for the
purpose of unlawfully selling, serving, storing, keeping,
manufacturing, or giving away any controlled substance, as
specified, and every building or place where those acts take
place, is a nuisance.
3)Further provides that every building or place used for the
purpose of illegal gambling, lewdness, assignation,
prostitution, or counterfeiting is a nuisance.
4)Generally authorizes a district attorney or city attorney to
bring an action to abate the above nuisances within their
respective jurisdictions.
FISCAL EFFECT : As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal.
COMMENTS : According to the author's office, currently when law
enforcement takes action for nuisance abatement, the District
Attorney or City Attorney handles the adjudication of these
cases. The District Attorney handles only criminal cases, while
the City Attorney can handle both criminal and civil cases.
Many times, the nuisance cases end up being civil cases where a
civil injunction is brought against the offending person. There
are a large number of these civil nuisance cases. This
represents a problem in unincorporated areas where there is no
City Attorney and the District Attorney may not have the
expertise or staff to assign the cases to. The Los Angeles
County Sheriffs' Department, the sponsor states that enabling
the county counsel to bring these cases "will help to more
efficiently and effectively adjudicate the large number of
nuisance abatement cases [thus] making life better for everyone
in the county."
Under existing law, a nuisance is defined to mean anything which
is injurious to health or is indecent or offensive to the
senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as to
AB 1502
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interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property.
Current law also deems certain uses of buildings or places to be
a nuisance and authorizes a district attorney, city attorney, or
any citizen to bring an action to abate and prevent the
nuisance. Such uses include, among other things, buildings or
places used for the purposes of illegal gambling or
prostitution, unlawfully selling, serving, storing, keeping,
manufacturing, or giving away any controlled substance,
unlawfully selling, serving, or giving away alcoholic liquor,
and manufacturing or intentionally selling counterfeit goods.
In response to concerns about the burden of the current nuisance
abatement caseload on district attorneys and city attorneys, and
the lack of a city attorney in unincorporated areas, this bill
would simply additionally add a county counsel to the list of
persons who can bring nuisance abatement and prevention actions
under specified circumstances.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department (sponsor)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Thomas Clark / JUD. / (916) 319-2334