BILL NUMBER: SB 573	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hernandez

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2011

   An act to amend Section 832.7 of the Penal Code, relating to peace
officers.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 573, as introduced, Hernandez. Peace officers.
   Existing law provides that peace officer or custodial officer
personnel records and records maintained by any state or local
agency, or information obtained from these records, are confidential
and shall not, subject to exception, be disclosed in any criminal or
civil proceeding, as specified. Existing law also provides
circumstances under which the employing agency may release factual
information concerning a disciplinary investigation of the officer.
   This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those
provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 832.7 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   832.7.  (a) Peace officer or custodial officer personnel records
and records maintained by any state or local agency pursuant to
Section 832.5, or information obtained from these records, are
confidential and shall not be disclosed in any criminal or civil
proceeding except by discovery pursuant to Sections 1043 and 1046 of
the Evidence Code. This section shall not apply to investigations or
proceedings concerning the conduct of peace officers or custodial
officers, or an agency or department that employs those officers,
conducted by a grand jury, a district attorney's office, or the
Attorney General's office.
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a department or agency shall
release to the complaining party a copy of his or her own statements
at the time the complaint is filed.
   (c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a department or agency that
employs peace or custodial officers may disseminate data regarding
the number, type, or disposition of complaints (sustained, not
sustained, exonerated, or unfounded) made against its officers if
that information is in a form which does not identify the individuals
involved.
   (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a department or agency that
employs peace  officers  or custodial officers may release
factual information concerning a disciplinary investigation if the
officer who is the subject of the disciplinary investigation, or the
officer's agent or representative, publicly makes a statement he or
she knows to be false concerning the investigation or the imposition
of disciplinary action. Information may not be disclosed by the peace
 officer's  or custodial officer's employer unless the
false statement was published by an established medium of
communication, such as television, radio, or a newspaper. Disclosure
of factual information by the employing agency pursuant to this
subdivision is limited to facts contained in the officer's personnel
file concerning the disciplinary investigation or imposition of
disciplinary action that specifically refute the false statements
made public by the peace  officer  or custodial officer or
his or her agent or representative.
   (e) (1) The department or agency shall provide written
notification to the complaining party of the disposition of the
complaint within 30 days of the disposition.
   (2) The notification described in this subdivision shall not be
conclusive or binding or admissible as evidence in any separate or
subsequent action or proceeding brought before an arbitrator, court,
or judge of this state or the United States.
   (f) Nothing in this section shall affect the discovery or
disclosure of information contained in a peace  officer 
 's  or custodial officer's personnel file pursuant to
Section 1043 of the Evidence Code.