BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUDGET AND FISCAL REVIEW
Mark Leno, Chair
Bill No: AB 117
Author: Committee on Budget
As Amended: April 11, 2011
Consultant: Brian Brown
Fiscal: Yes
Hearing Date: April 11, 2011
Subject: Criminal Justice realignment
Summary: The intent of this bill is to make specified,
largely technical corrections to AB 109 (Chapter 15,
Statutes of 2011), concerning public safety realignment,
consistent with the purposes of that measure.
These corrections do the following: (1) restore to current
law certain amendments unintentionally made in AB 109 to
several statutory provisions enacted or substantively
amended by voter initiatives; (2) correct technical
drafting errors in AB 109; and (3) correct two substantive
drafting errors in AB 109 pertaining to the crime of petty
theft with a prior, and the admission eligibility of
juvenile sex offenders into the state Division of Juvenile
Justice.
Proposed Law: This bill does the following:
1. Specifically, this bill restores specified
statutory provisions enacted or substantively amended
by the following voter approved initiatives which were
unintentionally amended in AB 109:
a. Proposition 21. Proposition passed in
2000 that increased a variety of criminal
penalties for crimes committed by youth and
incorporated many youth offenders into the adult
criminal justice system.
b. Proposition 69. Proposition passed in
2004 that allows for the collection of DNA
samples from all felons and from people who have
been arrested for certain crimes.
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c. Proposition 6. Proposition passed in 1998
that created new felonies related to the killing
of horse, donkey or mules for human consumption
and the sale of horsemeat.
d. Proposition 83. Proposition passed in
2006 that, among other things, increased the
penalties for sex offenders and broadened the
definition of certain sexual offenses. This
proposition is also referred to as Jessica's Law.
e. Proposition 187. Proposition passed in
1994 designed to create a state-run citizenship
screening system in order to prohibit
undocumented persons from using health care,
public education, and other social services.
1. Under current law, Penal Code section 666 generally
provides that petty theft with a prior, as specified,
is a wobbler for persons who have been convicted three
or more times of petty theft or a related petty theft
crime, as specified. However, for persons who are
required to register as a sex offender, or have a
prior violent or serious felony conviction, petty
theft with a prior is a wobbler regardless of their
prior theft conviction history. (Penal Code � 666.)
AB 109 inadvertently changed the definition of this
crime, as enacted in AB 1844 (Fletcher) (Ch. 219,
Stats. 2010). These amendments undo this inadvertent
drafting error by restoring the "petty with a prior"
penalties applicable to registered sex offenders and
persons with violent or serious felony priors as
enacted in AB 1844.
2. Clarifies that counties may enter into a Memorandum
of Understanding with the state to house minors who
are adjudicated for specified sex offenses.
3. Allows counties to create a Joint Powers Authority
to provide for supervision of juvenile offenders.
4. Makes purely technical reference change to Penal
Code Section 3000.09 related to offenders that will
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continue to be supervised on state parole (serious,
violent, third strike, and high risk sex offenders).
Fiscal Effect: Once AB 109 is implemented, this bill may
result in approximately $2.5 million annually to the state
as the bill will result in an increase to the state prison
population of approximately 100 inmates.
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