BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 2383
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          Date of Hearing:   April 16, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
                               Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
                   AB 2383 (Ammiano) - As Amended:  March 26, 2012
           
          SUBJECT  :  Department of Motor Vehicles records

           SUMMARY  :  Grants to the city attorney of San Francisco, and his 
          or her investigators, access to Department of Motor Vehicles 
          (DMV) records.  Specifically,  this bill  :  Includes the city 
          attorney of a city and county (i.e., San Francisco), and his or 
          her investigators, to the statutory list of law enforcement 
          officials who are allowed access to the records of DMV.  

           EXISTING LAW  :  

          1)Prohibits, with various exceptions, DMV from disclosing 
            records or information from, and provides for the 
            confidentiality of, all DMV records relating to the 
            registration of vehicles, the information contained on 
            driver's license applications, abstracts of convictions, and 
            abstracts of accident reports.  

          2)Grants access to DMV records to the Attorney General, district 
            attorneys (DAs), law enforcement agencies, city attorneys 
            prosecuting misdemeanor violations of state law upon the 
            authorization of a DA, public defenders, and public defender 
            investigators.  

          3)Deems a city attorney engaged in the prosecution of criminal 
            actions to be a law enforcement entity for purposes of 
            obtaining a governmental entity requester code from DMV.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown

           COMMENTS  :  According to the author, "the San Francisco City 
          Attorney's Office had full access to DMV records for twenty one 
          years at the law enforcement level.  Last year, DMV reclassified 
          the City Attorney's Office which resulted in the discontinuation 
          of full DMV access, including driver license photos?Full access 
          to DMV records is necessary in order for the San Francisco City 
          Attorney to effectively carry out their job."  

          The author further notes that the San Francisco City Attorney 








                                                                  AB 2383
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          serves as legal counsel for all city departments and agencies 
          and utilizes DMV records, in particular DMV license photos, to 
          serve parents with notices of dependency hearings, to establish 
          a security protocol for threatened employees, to conduct 
          surveillance on individuals whose activities are under 
          investigation, and to investigate facts and allegations 
          pertinent to litigation filed against city and county 
          departments, employees, public officials, and agencies.   

          San Francisco is unique in this regard.  Its city attorney 
          carries out functions that are not performed by other city 
          attorneys because the San Francisco City Attorney has both city 
          and county responsibilities.  

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          City and County of San Francisco (sponsor)

           Opposition 
           
          None on file
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :   Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093