BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1738|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1738
Author: Tran (R)
Amended: 5/24/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/15/10
AYES: Leno, Cogdill, Cedillo, Hancock, Huff, Steinberg,
Wright
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 10-0, 6/28/10
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Alquist, Corbett, Denham, Leno, Price,
Walters, Wolk, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 4/22/10 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Domestic violence: incident reports
SOURCE : Conference of California Bar Associations
DIGEST : This bill expands the current law providing
domestic violence victims with a free copy of the domestic
violence incident report to include family members and
additional representatives, as specified.
ANALYSIS : Current law requires state and local law
enforcement agencies to provide, without charging a fee,
one copy of all domestic violence incident report face
sheets, one copy of all domestic violence incident reports,
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or both, to a victim of domestic violence, or to his/her
representative if the victim is deceased, upon request.
(Section 6228 of the Family Code [FAM])
Current law provides that, for purposes of this section, a
representative of the victim where the victim is deceased,
means any of the following:
The surviving spouse.
A surviving child of the decedent who has attained 18
years of age.
A domestic partner.
A surviving parent of the decedent.
A surviving adult relative.
The public administrator if one has been appointed. (FAM
Section 6228(g))
This bill revises this list to include in this authority
the "personal representative of the victim, as defined in
Section 58 of the Probate Code, if one is appointed."
This bill additionally authorizes "either of" the following
persons as representatives entitled to this information
where the victim is not deceased:
A parent, sibling, or adult child of the victim, who
shall present to law enforcement his or her
identification and a signed authorization by the victim
allowing that family member to act on behalf of the
victim.
An attorney for the victim, who shall present to law
enforcement his or her identification and written proof
that he or she is the attorney for the victim.
A conservator or guardian of the victim.
This bill provides that domestic violence incident report
face sheets may not be provided to a representative of the
victim unless both of the following conditions are met:
1. The representative presents his or her identification,
such as a current, valid driver's license, a
state-issued identification card, or a passport.
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2. The representative presents one of the following:
A. If the victim is deceased, a certified copy of the
death certificate or other satisfactory evidence of
the death of the victim at the time of the request.
B. If the victim is alive, a written authorization
signed by the victim making him/her the victim's
personal representative.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
Expands state mandate Likely minor, possible
reimbursable General/
Local
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/29/10)
Conference of California Bar Associations (source)
Crime Victims Action Alliance
Executive Committee of the Family Law Section of the State
Bar
Peace Officers Research Association of California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author states:
"Current law authorizes a victim of domestic violence (or
the representative of a deceased victim of domestic
violence ?) to obtain one copy of the domestic violence
incident report or domestic violence incident report face
sheets, to support the evidentiary showing required to
obtain a temporary restraining order or protective order,
and for other purposes. However, the law does not permit
the victim to authorize a representative, including the
attorney hired to represent the victim in the matter, to
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obtain a copy of the incident report or face sheets on
the victim's behalf; a representative of the victim may
only obtain a copy of the incident report or face sheets
if the victim is deceased. Thus, a victim who is
injured, has moved to another location, or is otherwise
unable to appear in person, cannot obtain a copy of the
incident report or face sheet. Existing law further does
not authorize the conservator of a victim who has been
determined incapacitated or the guardian of a minor
victim to obtain a copy of the reports or face sheets on
the victim's behalf.
"AB 1738 ? would permit a victim of domestic violence to
authorize a member of her or his immediate family
(representative to obtain a copy of the incident report
or face sheet on her or his behalf. It would also
authorize the attorney of the victim hired to represent
the victim in the matter related to the domestic violence
and the conservator or guardian of the victim to obtain a
copy of the incident report or face sheet. All
authorizations would be subject to the existing
prohibition against the reports or face sheets being
provided to any person who has been convicted of murder
in the first degree, as defined in Section 189 of the
Penal Code, of the victim, or any person identified in
the incident report face sheet as a suspect."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blumenfield, Caballero, Huber, Huffman,
Norby, Vacancy
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RJG:mw 6/29/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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