BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair


          AB 1432 (Mitchell) - Caylee's Law.
          
          Amended: May 25, 2012           Policy Vote: Public Safety 4-2
          Urgency: Yes                    Mandate: Yes
          Hearing Date: June 25, 2012                            
          Consultant: Jolie Onodera       
          
          This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the 
          Suspense File.
          
          
          Bill Summary: AB 1432, an urgency measure, would make it a 
          misdemeanor for a parent or guardian to fail to report the death 
          or disappearance of a child under the age of 14 within 24 hours, 
          as specified.

          Fiscal Impact: 
              Ongoing minor court costs for new misdemeanor filings, 
              likely less than $12,000 (General Fund) for 25 additional 
              misdemeanor filings per year.
              Potential non-reimbursable local enforcement and 
              incarceration costs, offset to a degree by fine revenue.
              While the impact of this bill independently is likely to be 
              minor, the cumulative effect of all new misdemeanors could 
              create General Fund cost pressure on capital outlay, 
              staffing, programming, the courts, and other resources in 
              the context of recently enacted 2011 Public Safety 
              Realignment.

          Background: This bill is to be known as "Caylee's Law," named 
          after the deceased daughter of Casey Anthony who was charged 
          with murder following the disappearance of her two-year old 
          daughter in Florida in 2008. The jury found Anthony not guilty 
          of first degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated 
          manslaughter of a child, but guilty of four misdemeanor counts 
          of providing false information to a law enforcement officer. 
          Media coverage of the trial garnered national attention, 
          resulting in several other states introducing similar measures 
          imposing stricter requirements on parents to notify law 
          enforcement of the death or disappearance of a child.

          Proposed Law: This bill would require any parent or guardian 








          AB 1432 (Mitchell)
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          having the care, custody, or control of a child under 14 years 
          of age who knows or should have known that the child has died to 
          notify a public safety agency within 24 hours of the time that 
          the parent or guardian knew or should have known that the child 
          has died. This requirement would not apply when a child is 
          otherwise under the immediate care of a physician at the time of 
          death, or if a public safety agency, coroner, or medical 
          examiner is otherwise aware of the death.

          This bill would also require any parent or guardian having the 
          care, custody, or control of a child under 14 years of age to 
          notify law enforcement within 24 hours of the time that the 
          parent or guardian knows or should have known that the child is 
          a missing person and is at risk, as specified. This requirement 
          would not apply if law enforcement is otherwise aware that the 
          child is a missing person.
          A violation of either of the above provisions would be a 
          misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not 
          more than one year, or by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both 
          that fine and imprisonment. This bill provides that nothing in 
          the section shall preclude prosecution under any other provision 
          of law.

          This bill contains an urgency clause stating it is necessary 
          that this act take effect immediately in order to protect 
          children at the earliest possible time from criminal acts that 
          could lead to harm or death.

          Related Legislation: AB 1422 (Torlakson) Chapter 477/2000 
          created a misdemeanor offense for a person who is not a family 
          member to fail to report the murder, rape, or lewd act on a 
          child under the age of 14. 

          Staff Comments: The provisions of this bill will result in 
          likely minor non-reimbursable local law enforcement costs offset 
          to a degree by fine revenue. The Judicial Council has indicated 
          costs for increased misdemeanor filings would result in 
          increased costs of approximately $12,000 (General Fund) 
          statewide if 25 new misdemeanors were filed annually.

          The creation of new misdemeanors has historically been analyzed 
          by this Committee to result in non-reimbursable state mandated 
          costs for local law enforcement and incarceration. Staff notes, 
          however, that the creation of new misdemeanors taken 








          AB 1432 (Mitchell)
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          cumulatively could increase the statewide adult jail population 
          to a degree that could potentially impact the flexibility of 
          counties to manage their jail populations recently increased 
          under the 2011 Public Safety Realignment. While the provisions 
          of this bill are likely to be minor, the cumulative effect of 
          all new misdemeanors could create unknown General Fund cost 
          pressure on capital outlay, staffing, programming, the courts, 
          and other resources.