BILL NUMBER: AB 2284 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Chesbro
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to amend Section 145 of the Penal Code, relating
to crime. An act to add Section 12025 to the Fish and
Game Code, and to add and repeal Section 2429.7 of the Vehicle Code,
relating to marijuana cultivation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2284, as amended, Chesbro. Criminal procedure.
Marijuana cultivation.
Existing law establishes fines and penalties for a violation of
the Fish and Game Code.
This bill would impose an additional civil penalty for a violation
of specified provisions of the Fish and Game Code connected to
marijuana cultivation on a unit of the state park system, state
forest, and timberland, as defined, at an amount determined by the
Fish and Game Commission sufficient to cover the costs associated
with cleaning up the marijuana site.
Existing law requires the Department of the California Highway
Patrol to enforce the requirements of the Government Code.
This bill would, until January 1, 2023, require the department to
establish a pilot program authorizing a peace officer of the
department or a county sheriff's office to stop a vehicle
transporting agricultural irrigation supplies into a unit of the
state park system, state forest, national forest, or timberland, and
make specified inquiries.
Under existing law, a public officer or other person who has
arrested a person on a criminal charge and who willfully delays
taking that person before a magistrate, as specified, is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
This bill would make, nonsubstantive changes to this provision.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) As a result of the closure and lack of staffing at numerous
state parks, those parks and other resource lands have become
infested with illegal marijuana cultivation.
(b) The illegal marijuana growing sites create a hazard for those
who recreate on these public resource lands. Some of the most recent
events that showed the relative danger were the murder of Matthew
Coleman and Fort Bragg City Council Member Jere Melo who surveyed the
forest for illegal marijuana growth in connection with local law
enforcement and were killed in the course of their jobs.
(c) The marijuana grow sites often are constructed without regard
for the environment or wildlife.
(d) Because the illegal marijuana cultivation operations are set
up deep in resource land, all the equipment is brought in and
constructed without consideration for the environmental effects.
(e) Many illegal marijuana grow sites include water diversion with
irrigation pipes, generators, and batteries to power the cultivation
equipment and camp, illegal damming and water diversion, and
pesticides and insecticides that are sometimes added directly to
streams and ponds.
SEC. 2. Section 12025 is added to the
Fish and Game Code , to read:
12025. (a) In addition to any penalties imposed by any other law,
a person found to have violated Section 1600, 5650, 5652, or 5937 in
connection with marijuana cultivation on a unit of the state park
system, state forest, or timberland shall be liable for a civil
penalty in an amount determined by the commission that is necessary
to cover the costs associated with cleaning up the marijuana site.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "timberland" has the same
meaning as that set forth in Section 51104 of the Government Code.
SEC. 3. Section 2429.7 is added to the
Vehicle Code , to read:
2429.7. (a) The department shall establish a pilot program
authorizing a peace officer of the department or a county sheriff's
office to stop a vehicle transporting agricultural irrigation
supplies into a unit of the state park system, state forest, national
forest, or timberland, upon reasonable belief that those supplies
will be used to cultivate marijuana on those lands, and ask the
driver of the vehicle about the purpose and destination of the
agricultural irrigation supplies.
(b) A county may participate in the pilot program by adopting a
resolution opting into the pilot program.
(c) The number of counties that may participate in the pilot
program shall not exceed six.
(d) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Agricultural irrigation supplies" includes agricultural
irrigation water bladder and drip irrigation tubing.
(2) "Timberland" has the same meaning as that set forth in Section
51104 of the Government Code.
(e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2023, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2023, deletes or extends
that date.
SECTION 1. Section 145 of the Penal Code is
amended to read:
145. Every public officer or other person who has arrested a
person upon a criminal charge, who willfully delays to take the
person before a magistrate having jurisdiction, to take his
examination, is guilty of a misdemeanor.