BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1596
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1596 (Hayashi)
As Amended August 5, 2010
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |74-0 |(April 8, 2010) |SENATE: |34-0 |(August 18, |
| | | | | |2010) |
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Original Committee Reference: JUD.
SUMMARY : Makes, effective January 1, 2012, various changes to
protective order statutes, including:
1)Authorizes a minor under 12 who is accompanied by a guardian ad
litem to appear in court without counsel to request or oppose a
civil harassment or domestic violence protective order.
2)Allows a court to include other named family or household
members of the petitioner in a civil harassment, workplace
violence, or school site violence prevention order without
regard to where they reside.
3)Specifies the types of orders that can be issued in response to
a request for a civil harassment, workplace violence, school
site violence, or juvenile court protective order.
4)Requires a court to act on a request for a temporary restraining
order to prevent civil harassment, workplace violence, or school
site violence on the same day that the petition is filed, unless
it is filed too late in the day to permit effective review, in
which case it must be acted upon on the next judicial business
day.
5)Provides that a court must hold a hearing on all types of
protective orders within 21 days of the date the request for a
temporary restraining order is granted or denied, or, if good
cause appears, within 25 days.
6)Provides that a civil harassment, workplace violence, or
postsecondary education order after hearing shall have a
duration of no more than three years and may be renewed, upon
the request of a party, for not more than three years without a
showing of further harassment or abuse since the issuance of the
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original order.
7)Provides that an elder and dependent adult abuse restraining
order after hearing shall have a duration of no more than five
years and that the orders may be renewed for either an
additional five years or permanently.
8)Provides that, for all types of protective orders, any request
for renewal may be brought within the three months before the
expiration of the order.
9)Expressly authorizes a court to reissue a temporary restraining
order for civil harassment, workplace violence, or postsecondary
school site violence that could not be served within the time
required by statute, and provides that a reissued order shall
remain in effect until the date set for the hearing on the
permanent order.
10)Provides that when a person named in a civil harassment,
workplace violence, or postsecondary school site violence
protective order has not been served personally with the order
after the conclusion of the hearing but has received actual
notice of the existence and substance of the order through
personal appearance in court to hear the terms of the order from
the court, no additional proof of service is required for
enforcement of the order.
11)Allows for mail service in a civil harassment, workplace
violence, and postsecondary school site violence proceedings
when the permanent order issued by the court is identical to the
temporary restraining order except for the duration of the
order, and the respondent has not appeared; and requires notice
to the respondent of this provision.
12)Provides that, as an alternative to requiring the court to
order the petitioner to deliver a copy of a protective order to
the law enforcement agencies, the court may, within the court's
discretion and as requested by the petitioner, transmit a copy
to law enforcement for entry into the California Law Enforcement
Telecommunications System (CLETS) by the close of the business
day on which the order was granted, or the court may enter the
order into CLETS itself if authorized within one business day.
13)Incorporates prohibitions on owning, possessing, purchasing or
receiving ammunition into existing firearm prohibition
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provisions in protective order statutes.
The Senate amendments add the provisions described above.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes a court to issue protective orders in proceedings
involving civil harassment, workplace and postsecondary school
site violence, domestic violence, juvenile law, and elder or
dependent adult abuse.
2)Authorizes a minor under 12 who is accompanied by a guardian ad
litem to appear in court without counsel to request or oppose a
request for a protective order.
3)Allows a court to include other named family or household
members who reside with the person to be protected in orders to
prevent domestic violence and elder or dependent adult abuse.
4)Requires the court to act on a request for a domestic violence
temporary restraining order on the same day that the petition is
filed, unless it is filed too late in the day to permit
effective review, in which case it must be acted upon on the
next judicial business day.
5)Provides that a court must hold a hearing on a request for a
domestic violence protective order within 20 days of issuing a
temporary restraining order, or if good cause appears to the
court, 25 days from that date, and must hold a hearing on a
request for a civil harassment, workplace violence, or
postsecondary school site violence prevention order within 15
days of issuing a temporary restraining order, or if good cause
appears to the court, 21 days from that date.
6)Provides that orders after a hearing to prevent civil
harassment, workplace violence, postsecondary school site
violence, and elder or dependent adult abuse shall have a
duration of no more than three years and that a plaintiff may
seek renewal of the orders at any time within three months
before their expiration.
7)Provides that, in cases involving domestic violence and elder or
dependent adult abuse, when the person named in the order has
not been served personally with the order after the conclusion
of the hearing, but has received actual notice of the existence
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and substance of the order through personal appearance in court
to hear the terms of the order from the court, no additional
proof of service is required for enforcement of the order.
8)Provides that a person subject to a protective order shall be
prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm, and that any
such prohibited persons are also prohibited from owning,
possessing, or having under his or her control any ammunition.
9)Requires that information from protective orders be transmitted
to the Department of Justice for entry into its CLETS database.
Requires the court, in domestic violence prevention proceedings,
to transmit a copy of the orders to law enforcement for it to
enter or to enter the order on its own. Requires the court, in
civil harassment, workplace violence, postsecondary school site
violence, and elder and dependent adult abuse cases, to order
the plaintiffs or petitioners or their attorneys to deliver a
copy of protective orders to the law enforcement agencies within
the court's discretion as requested by the petitioner by the
close of the business day on which the orders were granted.
10) Permits a juvenile court to issue a protective order on
behalf of a dependent child or a ward.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill required that conflicting
restraining orders be enforced so as to provide the most
protection to the protected parties and expanded the situations in
which an emergency protective order may be issued.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee,
pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : Over the last two decades, the California Legislature
has enacted a significant number of laws designed to protect
victims of domestic violence, civil harassment, elder and
dependent adult abuse, and workplace violence. These laws
authorize courts to issue temporary restraining orders and
injunctions against persons engaging in violent, threatening,
abusive, or harassing conduct. In order to facilitate the
establishment of protective orders for self-represented victims,
the Judicial Council has developed extensive, standardized forms
to be used in protective order proceedings. Two years ago, the
Judicial Council established the Protective Orders Working Group,
which was tasked with a comprehensive review of issues and form
changes relating to protective orders. The working group is
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composed of members from the Judicial Council's Civil and Small
Claims Advisory Committee, the Family and Juvenile Law Advisory
Committee, the Criminal Law Advisory Committee, and the Domestic
Violence Practice and Procedure Task Force.
This bill implements recommendations from the Protective Orders
Working Group for statutory procedural changes to the protective
orders statutes which are intended to provide more clarity and
consistency for requests for protective orders. In order to
provide sufficient time for the Judicial Council to implement the
requisite form changes in this bill, and to integrate these forms
into the courts' case management system, this bill does not take
effect until January 1, 2012.
Analysis Prepared by : Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
FN: 0005754