BILL ANALYSIS
SB 668
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 30, 2009
Counsel: Gabriel Caswell
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Juan Arambula, Chair
SB 668 (Hollingsworth) - As Amended: May 5, 2009
SUMMARY : Specifies that the maximum one-year misdemeanor
punishment for failure to provide complete and accurate
information required on sex offender registration and
re-registration forms of the Department of Justice (DOJ) shall
not be construed to limit or prevent prosecution under any other
applicable provision of law.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Generally requires persons convicted of enumerated sex
offenses to register within five working days of coming into a
city or county, with specified law enforcement officials in
the city, county or city and county where he or she is
domiciled, as specified. (Penal Code Section 290.)
2)Requires that registration generally must be updated annually,
within five working days of a registrant's birthday. [Penal
Code Section 290.012 (a).]
3)Provides in some instances, registration must be updated once
every 30 or 90 days, as specified. (Penal Code Sections
290.011, 290.012.)
4)Provides every person, as specified, for the rest of his or
her life while residing in, or if he or she has no residence,
while located within California, or while attending school or
working in California, shall be required to register with the
chief of police of the city in which he or she is residing, or
if he or she has no residence, is located, or the sheriff of
the county if he or she is residing, or if he or she has no
residence, is located, in an unincorporated area or city that
has no police department, and, additionally, with the chief of
police of a campus of the University of California, the
California State University, or community college if he or she
is residing, or if he or she has no residence, is located upon
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the campus or in any of its facilities, within five working
days of coming into, or changing his or her residence or
location within, any city, county, or city and county, or
campus in which he or she temporarily resides, or, if he or
she has no residence, is located. [Penal Code Section
290(b).]
5)Requires registrants to provide the following information when
they register or reregister (Penal Code Section 290.015):
a) A statement in writing signed by the person, giving
information as shall be required by DOJ and giving the name
and address of the person's employer, and the address of
the person's place of employment if that is different from
the employer's main address;
b) The fingerprints and a current photograph of the person
taken by the registering official;
c) The license plate number of any vehicle owned by,
regularly driven by, or registered in the name of the
person;
d) Notice to the person that, in addition to other
specified requirements, he or she may have a duty to
register in any other state where he or she may relocate;
and,
e) Copies of adequate proof of residence, as specified.
6)Provides that it is a crime, punishable as specified, for any
person who is required to register to willfully violate any
requirement of this section. (Penal Code Section 290.018.)
Specifically, current statute includes the following
provisions:
a) Any person who is required to register based on a
misdemeanor conviction or juvenile adjudication who
willfully violates any requirement of the Act is guilty of
a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail
not exceeding one year. [Penal Code Section 290.018(a).]
b) Except as specified, any person who is required to
register under the Act based on a felony conviction or
juvenile adjudication who willfully violates any
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requirement of the Act or who has a prior conviction or
juvenile adjudication for the offense of failing to
register under the Act and who subsequently and willfully
violates any requirement of the Act is guilty of a felony
and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison
for 16 months, or two years or three years. [Penal Code
Section 290.018(b).]
c) Any person determined to be a mentally disordered sex
offender or who has been found guilty in the guilt phase of
trial for a registerable offense, but who has been found
not guilty by reason of insanity in the sanity phase of the
trial, or who has had a petition sustained in a juvenile
adjudication for a registerable offense, but who has been
found not guilty by reason of insanity, who willfully
violates any requirement of the Act is guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable by jail, as specified. For any
second or subsequent willful violation of any registration
requirement, the person is guilty of a felony, punishable
as specified. [Penal Code Section 290.018(d).]
d) Transient registrants who willfully fail to comply with
the requirement of registering no less than every 30 days
is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishably by jail for at least
30 days, but not exceeding six months. A person who
willfully fails to comply with the requirement that he or
she reregister no less than every 30 days shall not be
charged with this violation more often than once for a
failure to register in any period of 90 days. Any person
who willfully commits a third or subsequent violation of
the (transient registration requirements) shall be punished
(based on their underlying offense, as described above).
[Penal Code Section 290.018 (g).]
e) In addition to any other penalty imposed under this
section, the failure to provide information required on
registration and re-registration forms of DOJ, or the
provision of false information, is a crime punishable by
imprisonment in a county jail for a period not exceeding
one year. [Penal Code Section 290.018 (j).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
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1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "California
requires those convicted of specified sex offenses to register
with local law enforcement for life. The purpose of sex
offender registration is to assure that these offenders are
available for police surveillance at all times because the
Legislature has deemed them likely to commit similar offenses
in the future. Registered sex offenders are required to
update their information annually, within five working days of
their birthday. Some sex offenders must update more often:
transients must update every 30 days, and sexually violent
predators (SVPs), every 90 days. Currently, if a registrant
provides false information on his registration form, the
registrant is subject to a misdemeanor under Penal Code
Section 290.018(j).
"In October 2006, a former SVP named Matt Lyon Williams was
released unconditionally in Lakeside, an unincorporated
community in East San Diego County. He registered as a
transient and stated he had no automobile. His case revealed
serious weaknesses in the sex offender laws related to
providing truthful information when registering. Authorities
re-arrested Williams after discovering he had a vehicle and a
home residence. The state must send a clear message to
registrants that California takes its registration
requirements very seriously. It is our aim to make offenders
think twice before providing false information when completing
their registration forms.
"SB 668 is a bill that addresses the problem of sex offenders
who provide false information on their registration forms.
Recent amendments taken in Senate Public Safety seek to
clarify the penalties by stating that the misdemeanor penalty
in Penal Code section 290.018(j) does not limit or prevent
prosecution under any applicable provision of law."
2)Clarifying Language : This bill clarifies that the imposition
of the additional one-year misdemeanor for failing to
accurately or completely provide correct information when
registering or re-registering as a sex offender does not
preclude any additional punishment applicable under existing
law.
3)History of Penal Code Section 290.018(j) : This bill amends
the penalty provision of Penal Code Section 290.018(j),
enacted into the law in 2004 by AB 2527 (Frommer), Chapter
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429. AB 2527 was sponsored by DOJ and the California District
Attorneys Association and largely in response to an appellate
court case concerning the application of registration
requirements and penalties on homeless sex offenders. [People
v. North (2003) 112 Cal.App.4th 621.]
AB 2527 also contained what is now Penal Code Section
290.018(j). As explained in the following published court
opinion, that provision was added at DOJ's request as part of
what was regarded as statute "clean up". Prior to passage, AB
2527 was amended to include the phrase, "In addition to any
other penalty imposed under this subdivision." This phrase
was inserted to clarify that this provision was not intended
to alter or affect any existing applicable punishments, and
remains in the law today.
In 2007, the effect of this subdivision on other registration
penalty provisions was addressed in People v. Gonzalez (2007)
149 Cal.App.4th 304, where the court rejected a defendant's
argument that the misdemeanor in the current Penal Code
290.018(j) essentially converted a felony into a misdemeanor.
The court explained:
"Penal Code Section 290.0018(b) provides that failure by a sex
offender registrant to notify authorities of a change of
address constitutes a felony if the underlying offense
requiring registration is a felony. Subdivision (j)
establishes the misdemeanor of providing false information on
a registration form and requires additional punishment for
that misdemeanor. Gonzalez makes the novel claim that the
reference to ([j]) in ([b]) converts ([b]) into a 'wobbler'
statute because ([j]) pertains to a misdemeanor. Based on
this claim, Gonzalez contends that the trial court erred by
failing to exercise its discretion to impose felony or
misdemeanor punishment. We disagree. The reference to ([j])
in ([b]) appears misplaced and, perhaps, confusing, but it
does not convert ([b]) into a statute that gives the court
discretion to impose either felony or misdemeanor punishment
for a registration violation when registration was required as
the result of a felony conviction.
"Upon changing address or location, a sex offender registrant
must inform the law enforcement agency where the registrant
previously resided of his or her new address or location. A
violation of the statute can be either a misdemeanor or a
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felony depending on whether the registrant's underlying sex
offense was a felony or misdemeanor. . . . (Section
290.018[b]) is a mandatory sentencing provision that requires
the imposition of a felony sentence whenever a person is
required to register based on an underlying felony sex
offense.
"Gonzalez's second . . . conviction was a felony. Therefore,
his current violation . . . was properly charged as a felony,
and requires a felony sentence pursuant to (Section 290.018
(b).) The reference to (subdivision [j]) in (subdivision [b])
does not affect this result by giving the court discretion to
impose a misdemeanor punishment.
"The only reasonable interpretation of the language . . .
contained in (subdivision ([b]) is that a sentence for the
misdemeanor must be added to the felony sentence otherwise
required by (subdivision [b]). The words of a statute must be
read in context consistently with their statutory purpose, and
parts of a statute must be construed harmoniously. . . .
"The legislative intent in adding (subdivision [j]) in 2005 was
to create a substantive crime, not to fundamentally alter
(subdivision [b]). (Subdivision [j]) was enacted because
'[t]he Department of Justice indicates it has seen a recurring
problem in how to charge registrants who either give false
information on a registration form or omit required
information, and that some courts have rejected these charges
because the statute does not specifically recite these
violations.' " [Sen. Com. on Public Safety, Analysis of
Assem. Bill No. 2527 (2003-2004 Reg. Sess.) June 15, 2004.]
"While the legislative drafting might have been better,
Gonzalez's interpretation of (subdivision [b]) is not
plausible. (Subdivision [b]) is a critical element in the
Section 290 statutory scheme whose manifest purpose is to
require a felony sentence for a registration violation when
the registration requirement was imposed as the result of the
commission of a felony. Gonzalez's position would eviscerate
subdivision ([b]) by allowing a court to sentence a
registration violation as a misdemeanor in every case where
the registration requirement was imposed as the result of an
underlying felony conviction. 'We do not abandon our common
sense when we become judges.' (Subdivision [b]) provides
exclusively for felony punishment and (subdivision [j])
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provides exclusively for misdemeanor punishment. Neither
gives the trial court discretion to treat any registration
violation as either a felony or misdemeanor." [People v.
Gonzalez, supra, (citations omitted; emphasis added; code
section references updated to reflect current statute).]
The Gonzalez case thus clarifies that Penal Code 290.018(j) is
in addition to any other penalties applicable to a registrant.
4)Argument in Support : According to the La Mesa Spring Valley
School District , "[w]e believe this legislation is important
in order to ensure that accurate information is provided by
sex offenders when they register with local authorities.
"Existing law requires persons convicted of specified sex
offenses to register with local authorities for life while
residing, located, attending school, or working in California
. . . .
"We believe that California must send a clear message that
will make offenders think twice before using false information
when completing their registration forms. SB 668 is an
excellent step towards a more effective corrections process
and improved public safety."
5)Prior Legislation :
a) SB 501 (Hollingsworth), of the 2007-08 Legislative
Session, required that every registration, re-registration,
and pre-registration required by the sex offender
registration statute be signed under penalty of perjury.
SB 501 failed passage in Senate Public Safety
b) AB 2527 (Frommer), Chapter 429, Statutes 2004, revised
the transient sex offender registration requirements
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
California District Attorneys Association
City of Hemet
City of Moreno Valley
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City of Murrieta
City of Wildomar
County of Los Angeles
La Mesa Spring Valley School District
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
Riverside County District Attorney
Riverside Sheriffs' Association
San Bernardino County Sheriffs' Department
San Diego County District Attorney
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744