BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2094|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2094
Author: Butler (D)
Amended: 7/2/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/12/12
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Harman, Liu, Price, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 5/10/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Domestic violence: mandatory minimum probation
fine
SOURCE : California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
DIGEST : This bill increases, from $400 to $500, the fee
imposed on persons granted probation for a domestic
violence offense, as specified; and requires a court to
state its reasons for reducing or waiving this fee on the
record.
Senate Floor Amendments of 7/2/12 make non-substantive
double-joining amendments with AB 1165 (Achadjian).
ANALYSIS : Under existing law, if a person is granted
probation for a domestic violence crime, as specified, the
terms of probation shall include all of the following:
1. A minimum period of probation of 36 months, which may
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include a period of summary probation as appropriate.
2. A criminal court protective order protecting the victim
from further acts of violence, threats, stalking, sexual
abuse, and harassment, and, if appropriate, containing
residence exclusion or stay-away conditions.
3. Notice to the victim of the disposition of the case.
4. Booking the defendant within one week of sentencing if
the defendant has not already been booked.
5. A minimum payment by the defendant of $400 to be
disbursed as specified. If, after a hearing in court on
the record, the court finds that the defendant does not
have the ability to pay, the court may reduce or waive
this fee. (Penal Code Section 1203.097(a))
This bill increases the minimum fine from $400 to $500.
This bill additionally requires a court to state the reason
for exercising its discretion to reduce or waive this fee
on the record.
Comments
Pending Audit . Domestic violence fees currently are the
subject of an audit being performed by the Bureau of State
Audits. Due in August of this year, the audit will include
the following:
1. Review and evaluate the laws, rules, and regulations
significant to the audit objectives.
2. For a sample of four counties, to the extent possible,
obtain the following information regarding their
domestic violence program's special fund for each year
in the most recent four-year period:
A. Total amount of fee revenue collected.
B. Determine whether revenue from fees
collected from individuals granted probation for
crimes of domestic violence (Penal Code Section
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1203.097(a)) are separately tracked for accounting
purposes.
C. Beginning and ending balances of the
account and the fund.
D. Amount of fee revenue transferred to
domestic violence programs. Identify recipients of
this funding that are not domestic violence programs,
if any.
E. The number of individuals served by the
shelters receiving funding from the probation fee.
F. Determine how long the counties are
holding these funds before transferring them to the
shelters.
G. Determine if the counties' use of these funds
complies with statutory requirements.
3. For a sample of courts in the counties selected, assess
the extent to which each court has an adequate process
for handling the domestic violence probation fees by
determining the following for each year in the most
recent four-year period:
A. Whether the counties receive all
necessary information related to the fees from the
courts.
B. The frequency of complete fee payments by
probationers.
C. The extent to which mechanisms exist to
enforce payment of the fee and the effectiveness of
those mechanisms.
D. The extent to which the courts are
completely and accurately remitting the fees paid.
E. How long the courts are holding these funds before
transferring them to the counties.
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4. Review and assess any other issues that are significant
to domestic violence probation fees.
Prior legislation . AB 2011 (Arambula), Chapter 132,
Statutes of 2010, passed the Senate Floor (34-0) on July 1,
2010.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/2/12)
California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (source)
AFSCME, AFL-CIO
California Communities United Institute
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author states, "This bill
would raise the minimum fee of the domestic violence
service provider's fund from $400 to $500. This bill will
continue to allow the courts discretion on assessing,
reducing and waiving of the domestic violence fee if the
defendant is unable to pay. If the fee is reduced or
waived, the judge will state on the record their reasoning
for making that decision."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 5/10/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Beth Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, Hagman,
Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell,
Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Pan, Perea,
Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson,
Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada,
John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cook, Fletcher, Furutani, Jeffries,
Olsen, V. Manuel P�rez
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RJG:k 7/3/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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