BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 877
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 4, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 877 (Skinner) - As Amended: March 25, 2011
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 5-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill expands existing law that allows for dismissal of
non-felony motor vehicle offenses pending at the time of a
defendant's commitment to California Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation (CDCR), and that prohibits driver's license
suspension for a pending non-felony offense, to also include
persons sentenced to a county jail. Specifically, this bill:
1)Expands existing law relating to dismissal of non-felony motor
vehicle offenses pending at the time of a defendant's
commitment to CDCR, to provide the same relief to persons
sentenced to county jail for six months, and to persons
incarcerated in county jail for 90 or more days in a
consecutive 12-month period.
2)Expands existing law that prohibits suspension, revocation, or
refusal to issue or renew a driver's license as a result of a
pending nonfelony offense at the time of a person's commitment
to CDCR, to a pending infraction committed by a defendant
prior to serving more than 90 days in a consecutive 12-month
period of incarceration, or as a result of a notice received
by the DMV for notice of failure to appear in court after a
written promise, or failure to pay a fine if the offense that
gave rise to the notice occurred prior to incarceration.
3)Specifies exceptions to the expanded dismissal/driver's
license provisions, including: non-felony offenses where the
DMV is required to immediately suspend or revoke a person's
driver's license, and non-felony offenses for specified
driving-under-the influence or specified reckless driving
offenses.
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4)Allows eligible persons to request relief directly from the
DMV or the court.
5)Requires a court or DMV that receives a valid request to
search its records for eligible matters and dispose of each
eligible non-felony offense pursuant to these provisions.
6)Requires the court, within 15 days of receipt of the request,
to notify the DMV of the request and DMV to remove from its
records any notice received by it from any county in
California.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Unknown ongoing GF and Special Fund costs, likely in the range
of several hundred thousand dollars, to DMV and the courts to
develop, implement and maintain systems to expand existing law
to include defendants sentenced to county jails. Costs will
include regulations, programming, and staffing.
2)Unknown offsetting GF savings to the courts to the extent that
a significant number of minor non-felony cases - where the
defendant has served a significant state or local sentence -
will not have to go before the courts.
3)Potential out-year GF savings to the extent that helping
former inmates retain driver's licenses results in less
unemployment and recidivism.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. The author contends current law that protects
inmates from facing minor legal hurdles and the loss of a
driver's license when they are paroled from state prison
should be expanded to cover inmates leaving local jails as
well. Also, assuming the correctional realignment proposal
contained in AB 109 (chaptered April 4, 2011) takes effect,
the expansion to county incarceration is even more important.
According to the author, "One of the surest ways to assist
defendants in reintegration in society is to assure that they
are employable and able to care for themselves and their
families. A defendant who is unable to obtain a driver's
license is less employable, less likely to pay child support,
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apt to drive despite the lack of a license, unable to obtain
insurance and even more troubling, inclined to return to a
life of crime - putting the greater community at risk.
"Not having the ability to legally drive is a major barrier to
re-entry and becoming a productive member of society. Quite
frequently, upon their release, these individuals often are
arrested on a warrant relating to additional charges for the
failure to appear in court for a hearing on non-felony Vehicle
Code charges scheduled for a date on which the individual was
in prison or jail and unable to appear?.
"The proposed legislation will remove this barrier for over
12,000 individuals in San Francisco alone. The community at
large will be positively affected by this legislation. It is
estimated that it will allow well over 80,000 formally
incarcerated individuals to move toward successful reentry,
resulting in a decrease in crime and a savings in associated
court and incarceration costs.
"Furthermore, it is in the public interest that courts not be
burdened with the prosecution of minor cases where the
defendant has already served a long county jail
sentence/incarceration period regardless of ultimate
conviction, or term in prison and the additional prosecution
will neither substantially increase that term or facilitate
the public safety or rehabilitative purpose of our criminal
justice system."
2)Drafting Concerns . The author's office has agreed to work on
drafting clarifications regarding exceptions, limitations, and
time periods while the bill is on the committee's Suspense
File.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081