BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 1016 (Achadjian)
Hearing Date: 08/25/2011 Amended: 08/15/2011
Consultant: Jolie Onodera Policy Vote: Public Safety 7-0
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 1016 would require, commencing January 1, 2012,
a county to be reimbursed for specified nontreatment costs
incurred that are associated with a trial of a mentally
disordered offender (MDO). The bill requires the specified costs
to be paid by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(CDCR).
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
Reimbursement for Costs potentially in excess of $1,400
General
nontreatment trial annually to CDCR
costs for MDOs
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE.
Current law under Penal Code (PC) section 4750 entitles a city,
county, or superior court to reimbursement for reasonable and
necessary costs connected with state prisons or prisoners in
connection with any of the following: 1) any crime committed in
a state prison; 2) any crime committed by a prisoner in
furtherance of an escape; 3) any hearing on any return of a writ
of habeas corpus prosecuted by or on behalf of a prisoner; 4)
any trial or hearing on the question of sanity of a prisoner; 5)
any costs not otherwise reimbursable related to extradition of a
prisoner; 6) any costs incurred in transporting a prisoner
within the host county or incurred for extra security while the
prisoner is outside a state prison; or 7) any crime committed by
a state inmate at a state hospital for the care, treatment, and
education of the MDO.
Existing law under Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) section
AB 1016 (Achadjian)
Page 1
4117 further provides that a financial officer or other
designated official of a county shall make out a separate
statement of all nontreatment costs related to a hearing or
trial for specified prison or state hospital-related offenses,
to be certified by the judge of the superior court of the county
and be sent to the Controller for approval. Upon approval, the
county shall be reimbursed for all nontreatment related costs
from funds appropriated by the Legislature for this purpose.
This bill would provide that commencing January 1, 2012, any
nontreatment costs associated with PC section 2966 and approved
by the State Controller shall be reimbursed to a county and paid
by the CDCR pursuant to PC section 4750. Nontreatment costs
would include investigation and other preparation costs for the
trial or hearing, the actual trial costs, all costs of
maintaining custody and transporting the MDO to and from the
hospital, as well as costs of appeal.
There is currently no appropriation provided for nontreatment
costs pursuant to several PC and WIC sections cited within WIC
section 4117. Although mandate claims were previously approved
for specified costs, these mandates have not been funded for
several years and are currently suspended. The following
programs cited within WIC section 4117 that have suspended
mandates are as follows:
PC section 2966 - MDOs: Treatment as a Condition of
Parole
PC section 2972 - MDOs: Extended Commitment Proceedings
WIC section 6316.2 - MDOs: Extended Commitment
Proceedings
According to the State Controller's Office, claims submitted for
costs appropriate to WIC section 4117 have also been filed under
PC section 4750. Costs paid under PC section 2966 from funds
budgeted for PC section 4750 for San Luis Obispo County alone
have been approximately $650,000 per year over the past three
years and have been paid out of CDCR's annual appropriation. The
CDCR budget includes $19.6 million to pay county charges
pursuant to PC sections 4700.1, 4750 to 4755, and 6005. Claims
filed by San Bernardino County for PC section 2966 that have not
been paid due to the suspended mandate have been as much as
$680,000 in a single year.
AB 1016 (Achadjian)
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Potential claims that could be filed by the two counties
conducting these trials could be approximately $1.4 million
annually based on data in the State Mandated Cost Program Report
(AB 3000) issued by the State Controller's Office. As there is
no funding in CDCR's budget for these specific costs, all claims
filed pursuant to the provisions of this bill would be an
additional cost to the General Fund.
Should the counties choose to discontinue providing these
services, however, the responsibility to provide counsel for
MDOs would fall to the State at comparable or potentially
greater cost.