BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1838|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1838
Author: Bill Berryhill (R)
Amended: 7/15/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/29/10
AYES: Corbett, Harman, Hancock, Leno
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 5/6/10 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Unlawful detainer: controlled substances and
firearms
SOURCE : San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors
DIGEST : This bill, until January 1, 2012, adds the
district attorney in San Joaquin County to two existing
pilot projects that permit city attorneys or prosecutors to
bring an unlawful detainer action against a tenant for
unlawful activities regarding firearms, ammunition, and
controlled substances.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes the criteria for
determining when a tenant is guilty of unlawful detainer,
including conduct involving illegally selling a controlled
substance, or the commission of an offense involving the
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unlawful possession or use of illegal weapons or ammunition
or the use of the premises to further that purpose. Any of
those acts may be deemed to constitute committing a
nuisance on the premises.
Existing law authorizes, in specified counties, until
January 1, 2014, a city prosecutor or city attorney to file
an action for unlawful detainer in the name of the people
against any person who is in violation of the nuisance or
the illegal purpose provisions of the unlawful detainer
provision described above, with respect to controlled
substances or unlawful weapons or ammunition. These
provisions also impose specified reporting requirements
regarding the implementation of these programs upon the
city attorney and city prosecutor of each participating
jurisdiction. The information compiled pursuant to these
provisions is reported annually to the California Research
Bureau (CRB) on or before January 30 of each year. CRB is
required to report to the Legislature, as specified.
This bill, until January 1, 2012, permits the county
district attorney in the County of San Joaquin to file an
unlawful detainer action, under specified circumstances, in
accordance with these provisions.
This bill requires the district attorney in the County of
San Joaquin to file the report required to be submitted to
CRB on or before December 31, 2011.
Background
In 1998, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed AB
1384 (Havice), Chapter 613, Statutes of 1998, to create a
pilot project in five specified Los Angeles Municipal Court
districts to allow city attorneys and district attorneys to
seek the eviction of any person who is in violation of the
nuisance or controlled substance law. The bill also
permitted courts to order "partial evictions" to allow
innocent tenants to maintain possession of the premises if
the drug offender has permanently vacated the premises. AB
1384 became effective on January 1, 1999, for a three-year
trial period. Participating cities were required to
collect specified data on their experiences under the pilot
program. A required Judicial Council report, issued on
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January 31, 2001, was unable to provide an evaluation of
the merits of the pilot program due to insufficient data.
AB 815 (Havice), Chapter 431, Statutes of 2001, was enacted
in 2001 to add additional courts to the pilot program and
to extend the program for three additional years. A
required Judicial Council report, issued on April 22, 2004,
could not evaluate the program due to lack of resources.
In 2004, AB 2523 (Frommer), Chapter 304, Statutes of 2004,
further extended the sunset to January 1, 2010 and
augmented the reporting requirements. The bill also
required two additional Judicial Council reports to the
Senate and Assembly Committees on Judiciary summarizing the
collected information and evaluating the merits of the
pilot program.
In 2007, AB 1013 (Krekorian), Chapter 456, Statutes of
2007, was enacted to create a similar pilot program to
allow city attorneys and prosecutors to seek the eviction
of tenants who violate specified weapons and ammunitions
offenses on the rental property. That bill, which also
required reporting to the Judicial Council, contained a
sunset date of January 1, 2010. Last year, AB 530
(Krekorian), Chapter 244, Statutes of 2009, extended the
sunset dates on the two pilot programs to January 1, 2014,
added the city of Sacramento to the controlled substance
pilot program, and required that the reports to the
Legislature be completed by CRB rather than the Judicial
Council.
This bill, sponsored by the San Joaquin County Board of
Supervisors, adds the district attorney in San Joaquin
County to these two pilot projects.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/3/10)
San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors (source)
Apartment Association, CA Southern Cities
California Apartment Association
California Peace Officers' Association
California Police Chiefs Association
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Orange County Apartment Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author writes:
"AB 1838 would add the county district attorney in the
County of San Joaquin to file an unlawful detainer action
to the list of local governments currently authorized to
do so. This would assist San Joaquin County by allowing
the county to selectively use the authority provided
under the statute to execute a civil eviction at specific
locations where the calls for service have shown a clear
pattern of problem[s]. ? There are many locations in San
Joaquin County that have a history of documented criminal
gang activity and serve to enable the criminal street
gang members to meet and spread the influence of gangs
throughout the communities. These residences use
valuable law enforcement resources with their repeated
need for attention.
"One example: a home located in unincorporated San
Joaquin County recorded 444 calls for Sheriff service[s]
over a six year period of time for one such address.
Other county agency resources become involved with
investigations, e.g.,: Code Enforcement, Environmental
Health. These types of circumstances are unbearable for
citizens trying to make their home in the community."
The California Apartment Association writes that it would
'welcome the addition of the County of San Joaquin to the
current pilot program."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De
Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani,
Garrick, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, Norby, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio,
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Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico,
Tran, Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bass, Block, De La Torre, Gilmore,
Mendoza, Vacancy
RJG:mw 8/10/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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