BILL NUMBER: AB 324 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 7
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE FEBRUARY 29, 2012
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR FEBRUARY 29, 2012
PASSED THE SENATE FEBRUARY 17, 2012
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY FEBRUARY 23, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE FEBRUARY 7, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 31, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 13, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 22, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 15, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Buchanan
FEBRUARY 10, 2011
An act to amend Sections 731 and 733 of, and to add Section
1752.16 to, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to juveniles,
and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 324, Buchanan. Juvenile offenders: recall of commitment.
Existing law provides that a person who is under 18 years of age
and who commits a crime is within the jurisdiction of the juvenile
court, as specified. If the juvenile court declares a person to be a
ward of the court, the court issues an order with the disposition of
the case. Under existing law, the court may, in some cases, commit
the ward to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,
Division of Juvenile Facilities. Existing law prohibits a court from
committing a ward to the Division of Juvenile Facilities under
certain conditions unless the ward's most recent admitted or
adjudicated offense is a specified serious or violent offense or a
sex offense.
This bill would expand the class of persons who may be committed
to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of
Juvenile Facilities to include a ward who has committed a specified
sex offense, or who was previously found to have committed a
specified serious or violent offense or a specified sex offense.
Additionally, this bill would authorize the chief of the Division of
Juvenile Facilities to enter into contracts with counties for the
Division of Juvenile Facilities to provide housing to a ward who was
in the custody of the Division of Juvenile Facilities on December 12,
2011, and whose commitment was recalled under specific
circumstances.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 731 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
731. (a) If a minor is adjudged a ward of the court on the ground
that he or she is a person described by Section 602, the court may
order any of the types of treatment referred to in Sections 727 and
730 and, in addition, may do any of the following:
(1) Order the ward to make restitution, to pay a fine up to two
hundred fifty dollars ($250) for deposit in the county treasury if
the court finds that the minor has the financial ability to pay the
fine, or to participate in uncompensated work programs.
(2) Commit the ward to a sheltered-care facility.
(3) Order that the ward and his or her family or guardian
participate in a program of professional counseling as arranged and
directed by the probation officer as a condition of continued custody
of the ward.
(4) Commit the ward to the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Facilities, if the ward has
committed an offense described in subdivision (b) of Section 707 or
subdivision (c) of Section 290.008 of the Penal Code, and is not
otherwise ineligible for commitment to the division under Section
733.
(b) The Division of Juvenile Facilities shall notify the
Department of Finance when a county recalls a ward pursuant to
Section 731.1. The division shall provide the department with the
date the ward was recalled and the number of months the ward has
served in a state facility. The division shall provide this
information in the format prescribed by the department and within the
timeframes established by the department.
(c) A ward committed to the Division of Juvenile Facilities may
not be held in physical confinement for a period of time in excess of
the maximum period of imprisonment that could be imposed upon an
adult convicted of the offense or offenses that brought or continued
the minor under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. A ward
committed to the Division of Juvenile Facilities also may not be held
in physical confinement for a period of time in excess of the
maximum term of physical confinement set by the court based upon the
facts and circumstances of the matter or matters that brought or
continued the ward under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court,
which may not exceed the maximum period of adult confinement as
determined pursuant to this section. This section does not limit the
power of the Board of Parole Hearings to retain the ward on parole
status for the period permitted by Section 1769.
SEC. 2. Section 733 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
733. A ward of the juvenile court who meets any condition
described below shall not be committed to the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Facilities:
(a) The ward is under 11 years of age.
(b) The ward is suffering from any contagious, infectious, or
other disease that would probably endanger the lives or health of the
other inmates of any facility.
(c) The ward has been or is adjudged a ward of the court pursuant
to Section 602, and the most recent offense alleged in any petition
and admitted or found to be true by the court is not described in
subdivision (b) of Section 707 or subdivision (c) of Section 290.008
of the Penal Code. This subdivision shall be effective on and after
September 1, 2007.
SEC. 3. Section 1752.16 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
1752.16. (a) The chief of the Division of Juvenile Facilities,
with approval of the Director of Finance, may enter into contracts
with any county of this state for the Division of Juvenile Facilities
to furnish housing to a ward who was in the custody of the Division
of Juvenile Facilities on December 12, 2011, and whose commitment was
recalled based on both of the following:
(1) The ward was committed to the Division of Juvenile Facilities
for the commission of an offense described in subdivision (c) of
Section 290.008 of the Penal Code.
(2) The ward has not been adjudged a ward of the court pursuant to
Section 602 for commission of an offense described in subdivision
(b) of Section 707.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to
address the California Supreme Court's ruling in In re C.H. (2011) 53
Cal.4th 94.
SEC. 4. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to protect the public by preventing the possible release
of juvenile offenders who committed serious or violent offenses or
sex offenses, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.