BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1738
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1738 (Tran)
As Amended August 3, 2010
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |74-0 |(April 22, |SENATE: |33-0 |(August 11, |
| | |2010) | | |2010) |
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Original Committee Reference: JUD.
SUMMARY : Expands who may receive a copy of a domestic violence
incident report. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that if the victim is not deceased, the victim's
designated personal representative, who is limited to the
victim's parent, guardian, adult sibling (if the victim is 12
years of age or older) or adult child, or the victim's
attorney or conservator, may receive a copy of the victim's
domestic violence incident reports and incident report face
sheets. If the victim is 12 years of age or older and not
subject to a conservatorship, requires a written authorization
from the victim.
2)Provides that if the victim is deceased, the victim's personal
representative, if appointed, may receive a copy of the
victim's domestic violence incident reports and incident
report face sheets.
The Senate amendments add that the victim's conservator or
guardian, if the victim is not deceased, or, if the victim is
deceased, the victim's personal representative may receive a
copy of a domestic violence incident report.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires law enforcement to complete a domestic violence
incident report for each domestic violence-related call, as
specified.
2)Requires law enforcement to provide, without charge, a copy of
all domestic violence incident report face sheets and all
domestic violence incident reports to the victim or, if the
victim is deceased, to his or her representative.
AB 1738
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3)Defines a deceased victim's representative as any of the
following: a) the surviving spouse or domestic partner; b)
the surviving child of the deceased victim who is at least 18
years of age; c) a surviving parent; d) an adult relative; or,
e) the public administrator, if one has been appointed.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the version approved by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations analysis,
likely minor; possibly reimbursable to General/Local fund.
COMMENTS : Law enforcement is required to complete a domestic
violence incident report for each domestic violence-related call
it receives. These reports may be evidence for a court to
consider when determining whether to issue a protective order
for the victim. Originally, victims of domestic violence had to
write and request copies of those reports, which were then
provided by mail, a process that often took several weeks. That
delay prejudiced victims in their ability to present a case for
a protective order, so, in 1999, the Legislature required that
victims be provided with an expedited and affordable method for
obtaining these important reports. (AB 403 (Romero) Chapter
1022, Statutes of 1999.)
The Legislature expanded this provision to include
representatives of deceased domestic violence victims in
response to an incident where a victim had committed suicide.
In that case, the victim's mother sought emergency temporary
custody of the victim's children, and needed to obtain the
police reports to support her case - yet she was unable to get
these reports until she hired an attorney. The 2002 legislation
extended to specified representatives of a deceased victim of
domestic violence the right a living victim has to get face
sheets and incident reports from law enforcement upon request.
(SB 1265 (Alpert) Chapter 377, Statutes of 2002.)
This bill, sponsored by the Conference of California Bar
Associations, allows a victim's personal representative to
access the incident reports even if the victim is still alive.
In order to protect the victim's privacy, the bill, requires
that the authorized representative can only be the victim's
parent, guardian, adult sibling or adult child. The
representative must also have the written authorization from the
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victim. Additionally, the victim's attorney or conservator may
access the incident reports even if the victim is still alive.
If the victim is 12 years of age or older and not subject to a
conservatorship, requires a written authorization from the
victim.
Analysis Prepared by : Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
FN: 0005537