BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2295
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 5, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                 AB 2295 (De La Torre) - As Amended:  April 6, 2010 

          Policy Committee:                              Public  
          SafetyVote:  7-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  


          This bill requires the Department of Corrections and  
          Rehabilitation (CDCR) to permanently retain all files prepared  
          by the Division of Adult Parole Operations regarding any parolee  
          incarcerated for a serious felony or a violent felony as defined  
          in the Penal Code, or for an offense that requires registration  
          as a sex offender. 


          Parole files are generally destroyed one year after the parolee  
          is discharged from parole. Currently there are about 9,000  
          registered sex offenders and 47,000 violent or serious offenders  
          on parole.


           FISCAL EFFECT


           The annual storage cost alone of retaining paper files on about  
          22,000 violent, serious and registered sex offender parolees  
          released each year will be about $300,000, according to CDCR  
          estimates. Staff costs likely in the range of $100,000.  


           COMMENTS


          1)Rationale.  The author contends permanent retention of parole  
            documents will provide investigative assistance to law  
            enforcement that could prevent additional and ongoing  








                                                                  AB 2295
                                                                  Page  2

            criminality. While much of a parolee's file may be retained in  
            an inmate's central file, other related documents, such as  
            field files that contain agents' notes are regularly destroyed  
            after one year. 


           2)CDCR announced last month it will retain all parole documents  
            related to registered sex offenders  . 


           3)Electronic storage capacity not yet available  . According to  
            CDCR, its electronic system of case records management, which  
            would obviate the issue of storage costs is about three years  
            from completion. 



           Analysis Prepared by  :    Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081