BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 588|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 588
Author: Senate Public Safety Committee
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 3/31/09
AYES: Leno, Benoit, Cedillo, Hancock, Huff, Steinberg,
Wright
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 12-0, 5/28/09
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Corbett, Denham, DeSaulnier, Hancock,
Leno, Oropeza, Runner, Walters, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wolk
SUBJECT : Sex Offender Management Board
SOURCE : California Coalition Against Sexual Assault
California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation
DIGEST : This bill eliminates the statutory sunset for
the Sex Offender Management Board.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes the Sex Offender
Management Board under the jurisdiction of the Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation, with 17 members, as
specified.
Existing law requires the board to "address any issues,
concerns, and problems related to the community management
CONTINUED
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of adult sex offenders. The main objective of the board,
which shall be used to guide the board in prioritizing
resources and use of time, is to achieve safer communities
by reducing victimization. To that end, the board shall do
both of the following:
Conduct a thorough assessment of current management
practices for adult sex offenders, primarily those
under direct criminal justice or other supervision,
residing in California communities?. A report on the
findings of this assessment shall be submitted to the
Legislature and the Governor by January 1, 2008?.
Develop recommendations, based upon the findings in
the assessment, to improve management practices of
adult sex offenders under supervision in the
community, with the goal of improving community
safety. The plan shall address all significant
aspects of community management including supervision,
treatment, housing, transition to the community,
interagency coordination and the practices of other
entities that directly or indirectly affect the
community management of sex offenders. The board
shall provide information to the Legislature and
Governor as to its progress by January 1, 2009. The
completed plan shall be submitted to the Legislature
and the Governor by January 1, 2010?."
Existing law sunsets the board on January 1, 2010.
This bill eliminates this sunset.
Comments
Under current statute, the Sex Offender Management Board
will sunset on January 1, 2010. This bill will eliminate
that sunset and allow the board to continue its work into
the future.
As explained above, in 2006 the California Sex Offender
Management Board was enacted into law to "address any
issues, concerns, and problems related to the community
management of adult sex offenders." The Board's website
provides the following information about its work:
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Vision
The vision of the California Sex Offender Management
Board is to decrease sexual victimization and increase
community safety.
Mission
The vision will be accomplished by addressing issues,
concerns and problems related to community management
of adult sex offenders by identifying and developing
recommendations to improve policies and practices.
Background
On September 20, 2006, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
signed Assembly Bill 1015, which created the
California Sex Offender Management Board. The bill
had been introduced by Assembly Members Judy Chu and
Todd Spitzer and passed the California Legislature
with nearly unanimous bipartisan support.
Because California is the most populated state in the
Union and has had lifetime registration for its
convicted sex offenders since 1947, California has
more registered sex offenders than any other state
with about 88,000 identified sex offenders (per
Department of Justice, August 2007). Currently, the
California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) supervises about 10,000 of those
88,000 sex offenders, of which about 3,200 have been
designated as High Risk Sex Offenders (CDCR Housing
Summit, March 2007). Additionally, there are about
22,500 adult sex offenders serving time in one of 32
state prisons operated by CDCR (California Sex
Offender Management Task Force Report, July 2007).
While it is commonly believed that most sexual
assaults are committed by strangers, the research
suggests that the overwhelming majority of sex
offenders victimize people known to them;
approximately 90 percent of child victims know their
offenders, as do 80 percent of adult victims [per
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Kilpatrick, D.G., Edmunds, C.N., & Seymour, A.K.
(1992) Rape in America: A Report to the Nation.
Arlington, VA: National Victim Center].
The Board has produced a number of reports since its
inception:
1.Progress Report, January 2009
2.Adam Walsh Act Position Recommendation
3.Homelessness among Registered Sex Offenders in
California: The Numbers, the Risks and the Response,
November 2008
4.An Assessment of Current Management Practices of Adult
Sex Offenders in California, January 2008
5.GPS Response Letter to CDCR Secretary
All of these are available on the Board's website at http:
//www.casomb.org/ reports.htm.
Prior Legislation
AB 1015 (Chu), Chapter 338, Statutes of 2006
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
Eliminate sunset date $295 $590 $590 General
For Sex Offender
Management Board
SUPPORT : (Verified 4/20/09)
California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (co-source)
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
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(co-source)
Chief Probation Officers of California
California Probation Parole and Correctional Association
Crime Victims United of California
RJG:nl 5/29/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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