BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 531 (Rubio)
Hearing Date: 05/26/2011 Amended: 05/16/2011
Consultant: Jolie Onodera Policy Vote: Public Safety 7-0
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 531 would require a defendant to be tested for
the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) within 48 hours of a
search warrant being issued authorizing the administration of
the test if the victim of a forcible sex offense requests the
testing. This bill would also require the local health officer
to disclose the HIV test results as soon as practicable to the
victim and defendant.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
HIV testing within Unknown; potentially significant General
48 hours of issuance ofreimbursable local health costs
a search warrant
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE.
Existing federal law provides that the U.S. Attorney General may
issue grants to eligible states to encourage arrest policies and
enforcement of protective orders provided that the state meets
certain requirements regarding arrest and restraining order
policies in domestic violence and sex offense cases. California
local governments have received approximately $2 million to $5
million annually over the past several years in Office on
Violence Against Women (OVW) Arrest Program grant awards.
A state or local government must certify that it has a law or
regulation that meets federal eligibility criteria or the entity
will not be entitled to five percent of the funds it has been
allocated. Five percent of the federal grant funds received
would equate to a $250,000 reduction in federal grant funds
received statewide. To meet federal requirements, the state must
certify that if a victim requests an HIV test of a defendant
against whom information or an indictment has been presented for
a crime in which the defendant is alleged to have committed a
forcible sex offense, HIV testing must be administered not later
than 48 hours after the date on which the information or
indictment is presented. Further, notification to the victim and
defendant must be provided as soon as practicable (42 U.S.C.
�3796gg-4). This bill is intended to conform to these federal
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requirements.
Under existing state law, when a defendant has been charged by
complaint, information, or indictment with a crime, the court,
at the request of the victim, may issue a search warrant for the
purpose of testing the defendant's blood with an HIV test only
under specific circumstances. The court must find that there is
probable cause to believe that the defendant committed the
offense, and that there is probable cause to believe that the
HIV has been transferred from the defendant to the victim. This
bill provides that if a victim requests an HIV test of a
defendant against whom information or an indictment has been
presented for a crime in which, by force, or threat of force,
the defendant is alleged to have compelled the victim to engage
in sexual activity, the HIV test shall be administered not later
than 48 hours after the date on which a search warrant is issued
to authorize the administration of the test. This bill would not
result in additional HIV testing, as existing law already allows
a victim to request an assailant to be tested, but would require
the existing testing process to be expedited.
According to the Judicial Branch, as the provisions of this bill
do not change the existing process by which a probable cause
hearing must first be conducted prior to a search warrant being
issued to authorize an HIV test, the provisions of this bill
would not place an undue burden on court proceedings and would
not result in any significant fiscal impact to the courts.
This bill requires the local health officer to administer the
HIV test within the 48-hour timeframe, as well as disclose the
test results to the victim who requested the test and to the
accused who was tested as soon as practicable. To the extent the
expedited time period requires overtime and/or additional local
health officer resources to meet the 48-hour timeframe, this
would impose a higher level of service on local health officers
and could result in state-mandated local reimbursable costs of
an unknown but potentially significant amount.
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