BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 490|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 490
Author: Maldonado (R)
Amended: 6/4/09
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 3/31/09
AYES: Leno, Benoit, Cedillo, Hancock, Huff, Steinberg,
Wright
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR : 37-0, 4/23/09 (Consent)
AYES: Aanestad, Alquist, Ashburn, Benoit, Calderon,
Cedillo, Cogdill, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Denham,
DeSaulnier, Dutton, Florez, Hancock, Hollingsworth, Huff,
Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Maldonado, Negrete McLeod,
Oropeza, Padilla, Pavley, Romero, Runner, Simitian,
Steinberg, Strickland, Walters, Wiggins, Wolk, Wright,
Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ducheny, Harman
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 6/22/09 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Peace officer status: San Luis Obispo County
SOURCE : Peace Officers Research Association of
California
DIGEST : This bill grants San Luis Obispo County and
CONTINUED
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Colusa County the authority currently granted to
twenty-seven other counties to employ "custodial deputy
sheriffs" who are "employed to perform duties exclusively
or initially relating to custodial assignments," pursuant
to Penal Code Section 830.1(c).
Assembly Amendments added the County of Colusa.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides that any deputy sheriff
of the County of Los Angeles, and any deputy sheriff of the
counties of Butte, Calaveras, Glenn, Humboldt, Imperial,
Inyo, Kern, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Mariposa, Mendocino,
Plumas, Riverside, San Benito, San Diego, Santa Barbara,
Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter,
Tehama, Tulare, and Tuolumne who is employed to perform
duties exclusively or initially relating to custodial
assignments with responsibilities for maintaining the
operations of county custodial facilities, including the
custody, care, supervision, security, movement, and
transportation of inmates, is a peace officer whose
authority extends to any place in the state only while
engaged in the performance of the duties of his or her
respective employment and for the purpose of carrying out
the primary function of employment relating to his or her
custodial assignments, or when performing other law
enforcement duties directed by his or her employing agency
during a local state of emergency. (Penal Code
830.1(c).)
Under existing law, all cities and counties are authorized
to employ custodial officers (public officers who are not
peace officers) for the purpose of maintaining order in
local detention facilities. (Penal Code 831.)
Notwithstanding Section 831, in counties with a population
of 425,000 or less, and San Diego, Fresno, Kern, Riverside,
and Stanislaus counties, "enhanced powers" custodial
officers may be employed. Santa Clara County is also
included in this section with specified authority for
custodial officers who are employed by the Santa Clara
County Department of Corrections. (Penal Code 831.5.)
Those "enhanced powers" custodial officers may carry
firearms under the direction of the sheriff while
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fulfilling specified job-related duties. They too are
designated as "public officers," not "peace officers"; they
are empowered to serve warrants, writs, or subpoenas within
the custodial facility, and, as with regular custodial
officers, they may use reasonable force to establish and
maintain custody, and may release from custody
misdemeanants on citation to appear or individuals arrested
for intoxication who are not subject to further criminal
proceedings. They may also make warrantless arrests within
the facility (pursuant to Section 836.5 - misdemeanor in
the presence of the officer). Training standards are
specified. A peace officer is required to be present in a
supervisorial capacity whenever 20 or more custodial
officers are on duty (for both Section 831 and 831.5
officers).
Existing law establishes within the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation the Corrections Standards
Authority and makes the Authority responsible for general
oversight of local detention facilities, including
selection, training, and education of custodial personnel.
(Penal Code 6024 et seq.)
Existing law requires every peace officer to complete an
introductory course of training prescribed by the
Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training and
requires any person who completes that training, but is not
employed as a peace officer within 3 years, or who has a
3-year or longer break in service as a peace officer, to
pass a specified examination, except for specifically
exempted persons, including a peace officer specified in
Penal Code Section 830.1(c) who is assigned to perform
duties exclusively or initially relating to specified
custodial assignments, if the peace officer has previously
successfully completed the required training, and since
that time has been continually employed as a custodial
officer by the agency appointing him or her as a peace
officer. (Penal Code 832.)
Existing law sets qualifications for "holding office as a
peace officer" including that applicants be found to be
free from any physical, emotional, or mental condition
which might adversely affect the exercise of the powers of
a peace officer. (Government Code 1029 and 1031.)
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This bill adds San Luis Obispo County and Colusa County to
the list of counties that may employ custodial deputy
sheriffs as defined in Penal Code Section 830.1(c).
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 4/20/09)
Peace Officers Research Association of California (source)
California State Sheriffs Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office:
Currently, there are 27 counties in Penal Code Section
830.1(c), allowing them to create a new classification
of peace officer. This officer is essentially a
hybrid between a regular peace officer and a
correctional officer. In the 27 counties listed in
the code section, this new peace officer
classification gives the county the flexibility of
using the correctional officer with peace officer
powers without the cost of having to use a fully
trained Deputy Sheriff.
Penal Code 830.1(c) allows a county to send an officer
to the limited STC training without having to pay to
send that officer to the full POST training academy,
thereby saving the county tens of thousands of
dollars. Because of the limited training of the
830.1(c) peace officer, that officer has peace
officers powers while in the jails, but does not have
the training or authority to be a peace officer out on
the street. If that officer chooses to become a full
Deputy Sheriff, the county can then send the officer
back to the training academy for the remainder of the
POST certificate requirements and then send that
officer out on to the streets.
Besides acting as a cost savings for counties who are
financially strapped, this new status of peace officer
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protects a correctional officer through the peace
officer designation for a number of reasons. The most
important reason is that Correctional Officers
throughout California are experiencing an increase in
assaults by prisoners. Since they are not included in
Penal Code 830.1, and therefore not designated as
peace officers, these officers are unable to charge
the assailant with a violation of PC 241.1, 243.1 or
245.3.
By moving the County of San Luis Obispo into Penal
Code Section 830.1(c), SB 490 is providing them with
the flexibility they need to protect the citizens of
that county, and to remain financially viable, thereby
protecting the jobs of peace officers in San Luis
Obispo County.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Caballero, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto,
Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson,
Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller,
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries,
Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines,
Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Furutani,
Smyth, Torlakson
RJG:nl 6/23/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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