BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair S
2011-2012 Regular Session B
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SB 852 (Harman)
As Introduced February 18, 2011
Hearing date: April 5, 2011
Penal Code (URGENCY)
SM:mc
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION:
VICTIM/WITNESS NOTIFICATION
HISTORY
Source: Author
Prior Legislation: AB 2068 (Aghazarian) - Chapter 153, Statutes
of 2008
Support: California State Sheriffs' Association; Crime Victims
United of California (if amended)
Opposition:None known
KEY ISSUE
SHOULD CRIME VICTIMS HAVE THE RIGHT TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATION OF AN
OFFENDER'S CUSTODY STATUS BY E-MAIL?
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PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to amend several statutes to give
crime victims the right to receive notification of an offender's
custody status by e-mail.
Current law provides that the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), county sheriff, or
director of the local department of corrections shall give
notice not less than 15 days prior to the release from the state
prison or a county jail of any person who is convicted of
stalking or convicted of a felony offense involving domestic
violence, as specified, or any change in the parole status or
relevant change in the parole location of the convicted person,
or if the convicted person either escapes or absconds from
supervision while on parole, to any person the court identifies
as a victim of the offense, a family member of the victim, or a
witness to the offense by telephone and certified mail at his or
her last known address, upon request. A victim, family member,
or witness shall keep the Department of Corrections or county
sheriff informed of his or her current mailing address and
telephone number to be entitled to receive notice. (Penal Code
section 646.92.)
Current law provides that, with respect to the conviction of a
defendant involving a violent offense, as defined:
The county district attorney, probation department, and
victim-witness coordinator shall confer and establish an
annual policy within existing resources to decide which one
of their agencies shall inform each witness involved in the
conviction who was threatened by the defendant following
the defendant's arrest and each victim or next of kin of
the victim of that offense of the right to request and
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receive a notice, as required under specified code
sections. If no agreement is reached, the presiding judge
shall designate the appropriate county agency or department
to provide this notification.
The Department of Corrections shall supply a form to the
agency designated pursuant to subdivision (a) in order to
enable persons specified in subdivision (a) to request and
receive notification from the department of the release,
escape, scheduled execution, or death of the violent
offender. That agency shall give the form to the victim,
witness, or next of kin of the victim for completion,
explain to that person or persons the right to be so
notified, and forward the completed form to the department.
The department or the Board of Prison Terms is responsible
for notifying all victims, witnesses, or next of kin of
victims who request to be notified of a violent offender's
release or scheduled execution, as specified. (Penal Code
section 679.03.)
Current law provides that, upon request, notice of any hearing
to review or consider the parole suitability or the setting of a
parole date for any prisoner in a state prison shall be sent by
the Board of Parole Hearings at least 90 days before the hearing
to any victim of any crime committed by the prisoner, or to the
next of kin of the victim if the victim has died, to include the
commitment crimes, determinate term commitment crimes for which
the prisoner has been paroled, and any other felony crimes or
crimes against the person for which the prisoner has been
convicted. The requesting party shall keep the board apprised
of his or her current mailing address. (Penal Code section
3043.)
Current law provides that at the time a notification is sent to
law enforcement officials of specified inmates' release, the
Board of Parole Hearings or the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, or the designated agency responsible for
notification, as the case may be, shall also send a notice to
victims and witnesses, as specified, who have requested a notice
informing those persons of the fact that the person who
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committed the violent offense is scheduled to be released from
the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or from the
State Department of Mental Health, including, but not limited
to, conditional release, and specifying the proposed date of
release. Notice of the community in which the person is
scheduled to reside shall also be given if it is (1) in the
county of residence of a witness, victim, or family member of a
victim who has requested notification, or (2) within 100 miles
of the actual residence of a witness, victim, or family member
of a victim who has requested notification. If, after providing
the witness, victim, or next of kin with the notice, there is
any change in the release date or the community in which the
person is to reside, the board or department shall provide the
witness, victim, or next of kin with the revised information.
In order to be entitled to receive the notice set forth in this
section, the requesting party shall keep the department or board
informed of his or her current mailing address.
The board or department, when sending out notices regarding an
offender's release on parole, shall use the information provided
by the requesting party in the form completed pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 679.03, unless that information is no
longer current. If the information is no longer current, the
department shall make a reasonable attempt to contact the person
and to notify him or her of the impending release. (Penal Code
section 3058.8.)
Current law provides that as soon as placement of an inmate in
any reentry or work furlough program is planned, but in no case
less than 60 days prior to that placement, the Department of
Corrections shall send written notice, if notice has been
requested, to all of the following: (1) the chief of police of
the city, if any, in which the inmate will reside, if known, or
in which placement will be made; (2) the sheriff of the county
in which the inmate will reside, if known, or in which placement
will be made; and (3) the victim, if any, of the crime for which
the inmate was convicted, or the next of kin of the victim if
the crime was a homicide, if the victim or the next of kin has
submitted a request for notice with the department. Information
regarding victims or next of kin requesting the notice, and the
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notice, shall be confidential and not available to the inmate.
Current law provides that in the event of an escape of an inmate
from any facility under the jurisdiction of the Department of
Corrections, the department shall immediately notify, by the
most reasonable and expedient means available, the chief of
police of the city, and the sheriff of the county, in which the
inmate resided immediately prior to the inmate's arrest and
conviction, and, if previously requested, to the victim, if any,
of the crime for which the inmate was convicted, or to the next
of kin of the victim if the crime was a homicide. If the inmate
is recaptured, the department shall send written notice thereof
to the persons designated in this subdivision within 30 days
after regaining custody of the inmate.
Except as specified, the Department of Corrections shall send
the notices required by this section to the last address
provided to the department by the requesting party. It is the
responsibility of the requesting party to provide the department
with a current address.
Whenever the department sends the notice required by this
section to a victim, it shall do so by return-receipt mail. In
the event the victim does not reside at the last address
provided to the department, the department shall make a
diligent, good faith effort to learn the whereabouts of the
victim in order to comply with these notification requirements.
(Penal Code section 11155.)
This bill amends the above statutes to give crime victims the
right to receive legally mandated notification of an offender's
custody status by e-mail.
This bill states that the Legislature finds and declares that
this act furthers the rights of victims of crimes for purposes
of Proposition 9, as approved by the voters at the November 4,
2008, statewide General Election.
This bill is an urgency measure.
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RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
For the last several years, severe overcrowding in California's
prisons has been the focus of evolving and expensive litigation.
As these cases have progressed, prison conditions have
continued to be assailed, and the scrutiny of the federal courts
over California's prisons has intensified.
On June 30, 2005, in a class action lawsuit filed four years
earlier, the United States District Court for the Northern
District of California established a Receivership to take
control of the delivery of medical services to all California
state prisoners confined by the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation ("CDCR"). In December of 2006,
plaintiffs in two federal lawsuits against CDCR sought a
court-ordered limit on the prison population pursuant to the
federal Prison Litigation Reform Act. On January 12, 2010, a
three-judge federal panel issued an order requiring California
to reduce its inmate population to 137.5 percent of design
capacity -- a reduction at that time of roughly 40,000 inmates
-- within two years. The court stayed implementation of its
ruling pending the state's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On Monday, June 14, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear
the state's appeal of this order and, on Tuesday, November 30,
2010, the Court heard oral arguments. A decision is expected as
early as this spring.
In response to the unresolved prison capacity crisis, in early
2007 the Senate Committee on Public Safety began holding
legislative proposals which could further exacerbate prison
overcrowding through new or expanded felony prosecutions.
This bill does not appear to aggravate the prison overcrowding
crisis described above.
COMMENTS
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1. Need for This Bill
According to the author:
SB 852 would allow the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation to provide crime victims the option to be
notified of an offender's status electronically in addition to
regular mail. Existing law requires the Department to provide
notification to victims and other individuals who have
requested to be notified regarding an adult offender's status
only via regular mail.
By allowing victims the option to be notified of an offender's
status electronically, SB 852 will ensure that victims are
provided with pertinent information as quickly as possible.
The Department has received a federal grant to develop and
implement an automated victim notification system through the
Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE)
application. Existing law must be amended for the Department
to be able to implement this system.
2. Automated Victim Notification Systems
Automated systems to provide victims with information concerning
offenders currently exist in California, and are being expanded.
For example, in 2007, the California State Sheriffs'
Association announced it had "received a $1.7 million grant from
the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance
(BJA) to implement a Statewide Automated Victim Information and
Notification System (SAVIN) for California counties:
With SAVIN, crime victims and other concerned citizens can
call a toll-free number or log onto a secure Web portal to
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receive real-time information about the custody status of
offenders held in jail or prison. They can also register
to be notified by phone, e-mail, pager, or TTD/TTY device
when an offender is released, transferred, or escapes.
Live operators assist callers who need help obtaining
offender information or registering for notification. The
service is free to the public.
The system was developed following the 1993 death of Mary
Byron, a Louisville woman killed by a former boyfriend she
thought was behind bars.
Currently, automated notification services under the VINE
(Victim Information and Notification Everyday) program are
available in 17 California counties, including Los
Angeles, Orange, Alameda, and Santa Clara. The SAVIN
grant will allow the remaining 41 counties to join the
system, which will have a single toll-free number and
online interface for users. The grant provides up to 24
months of seed money, after which the state is responsible
for the ongoing cost of the program.<1>
VINE, the automated notification service described above, is a
product patented by Appriss, a private company located in
Louisville, Kentucky. According to the Appriss Web site:
To date, the VINE system tracks more than 80 percent of
the nation's offender population to keep victims informed.
All of these communities are connected to the Appriss Data
Network?, the nation's largest integrated criminal justice
information database. Data from county and state
correctional facilities is collected by this central hub,
where Appriss manages automated interfaces and monitors 60
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<1> See
www.calsheriffs.org/Documents/VINEGrant082007CSSAPressRelease.doc
, viewed online on March 18, 2011 (emphasis added).
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million data transactions each month.<2>
3. Potential Sole Source Issue
According to the author, similar to the grant provided to the
Sheriff's Association in 2007, the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation has received a grant from the federal government
"to develop and implement an automated victim notification
system through the Victim Information and Notification Everyday
(VINE)." This bill creates a mandate, in that it allows the
requesting party, i.e., the crime victim, to select the form in
which the legally mandated notice is to be provided and that
victims will have a right to receive that notice by e-mail
notification, if they so choose. Therefore, this bill appears
to create a statutory requirement that CDCR continue funding
this electronic notification system after the federal grant
money runs out. Because there appears to be only one company
offering an automated electronic notification system, this
raises a potential sole source issue. A March 19, 2008, letter
from Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca to the Los Angeles
County Board of Supervisors providing notice of the Sheriff's
Department's intent to extend a sole source contract with
Appriss to provide automated victim notification services to
crime victims in Los Angeles County states in part:
In 1998, the Department released a Request for Proposal
(RFP) for automated Victim Notification Services.
Interactive Services, LLC, which was later renamed
Appriss Incorporated, was the only form to respond.
Appriss developed a custom interface with the
Department's Automated Justice System (AJIS) software to
provide the VINE service, which makes this service cost
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<2> See http://www.appriss.com/sitedocs/VINECutSheet.pdf,
viewed online on March 18, 2011.
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effective for Los Angeles County. Since 1998, Appriss
has provided victim notification services to the citizens
of Los Angeles County. Prior to the 2003 extension
amendment, the Department contacted several
law enforcement agencies throughout California and it was
determined that Appriss continued to be the sole provider
of the VINE service. In fact, the VINE service now
serves communities in 43 states and 41 counties in
California. At least 16 states and several
municipalities have concluded that Appriss remains the
sole source provider of this service. The California
Sheriffs' Association has contracted with Appriss to
begin the development of a statewide VINE system. Until
the Statewide System is in place, it will be necessary
for Los Angeles County to continue to provide this
service.<3>
In light of the fact that this electronic notification system is
a proprietary system owned by a private corporation, and there
appears to be no other provider of this service, members may
wish to consider whether changing state law to require its
implementation creates a sole source issue.
4. Author's Amendment
To address the sole source issue and to provide some fiscal
flexibility once the federal grant funding expires, the author
has agreed to amend the bill to provide that victims may request
the mandated notification of an offender's status by e-mail
where that service is available .
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<3> See,
http://file.lacounty.gov/bc/q1_2008/cms1_085798.pdf#search="Appri
ss ", viewed online March 19, 2011.
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SHOULD THE BILL BE AMENDED TO ALLOW E-MAIL NOTIFICATION ONLY
WHERE THAT SERVICE IS AVAILABLE?
WHAT WILL BE THE FISCAL IMPACT OF THE SYSTEM PROPOSED BY THIS
BILL ONCE THE FEDERAL GRANT FUNDING EXPIRES?
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