BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 601
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 13, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 601 (Hancock) - As Amended: June 28, 2011
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote:7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Secretary of the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to develop a Corrections
Accountability Report for each institution and post it on CDCR's
website. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires CDCR to develop a Corrections Accountability Report
for each institution on January 10, March 15, and a fiscal
year-end report, and post the information on CDCR's website.
2)Requires CDCR to post reports dating back three years for each
institution, and requires CDCR to post corrections made to
inaccurate data to current or previous reports.
3)Requires each report to include the three-year recidivism
rate, a brief biography of the warden, and a brief description
of the prison, including the total number of inmates.
4)Requires each report to use, when possible, information
collected via the Compstat (computer-assisted statistics)
report for each prison, including:
a) Total budget, including expenditures, staff vacancies,
overtime, sick leave, and number of authorized staff
positions.
b) Rehabilitation programs, including capacity, enrollment,
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and completion rates.
c) Medical inspection grade.
d) Average length of lockdowns.
e) Number of deaths, specifying homicides, suicides,
unexpected, and expected deaths.
f) Number of use of force incidents.
g) Number of inmate appeals and disposition.
h) Number of inmates in administrative segregation.
i) Contraband seized, specifying the number of cell phones.
FISCAL EFFECT
Absorbable costs to CDCR as this information is currently
available and needs only to be shifted from the governor's
transparency website to CDCR's website.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. The author contends displaying this information on
CDCR's website will add transparency. According to the author,
"California's correctional system lacks transparency and
accountability. The public as well as the Legislature have no
clear way of accessing information on the effectiveness of
management and services being provided at California's 33
prisons?. By requiring the Secretary of the CDCR to repackage
the data and post the reports online, the public and the
Legislature could hold the department accountable for the
overall management of the correctional facility, including
administrative services, expenditures, safety and security,
and program support services."
2)Compstat , short for computer statistics, is a CDCR tool
designed to help monitor and provide operational review of
prison and parole operations. As part of Governor
Schwarzenegger's government transparency efforts in 2009,
Compstat reports were moved from the CDCR's website to the
Reporting Transparency in Government's Web site. Proponents of
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this bill, however, contend Compstat reports and audits are
hard for the public to find and review among the many reports
on that site. This bill is intended to make Compstat
information more readily accessible and easier to understand.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long/ APPR. / (916) 319-2081