BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 852 (Harman)
Hearing Date: 05/26/2011 Amended: 04/25/2011
Consultant: Jolie Onodera Policy Vote: Public Safety 7-0
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 852, an urgency measure, would amend several
statutes to give crime victims the right to receive notification
of an offender's custody status by electronic mail, if that
method of communication is available. The bill would
additionally require the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) to establish notification procedures
regarding the custody status and release of a violent offender,
and would require the local agency to inform the victim of the
notification procedures and explain to that person the right to
be so notified.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
Electronic notification$250 annually through 2014-15; Special*
system $250 or greater future annual cost
Special*/General
pressure; potential future cost savings
*Restitution Administrative Fee Special Deposit Fund
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
This bill, an urgency measure, would allow crime victims the
right to receive notification of an offender's custody status by
electronic mail, if that method is available. The bill states
that, "In order for the CDCR to fully implement an automated
victim notification system at the earliest possible time, it is
necessary that this act take effect immediately."
In July 2009, CDCR was awarded a two-year federal grant from the
Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) in the
amount of $500,000 and matched by a $500,000 in-kind
contribution (in the form of redirected CDCR staff resources) to
develop and implement the statewide automated victim information
and notification system known as California VINE (Victim
Information and Notification Everyday). This statewide
automation project was approved by the Office of the State Chief
Information Officer on October 14, 2009.
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VINE is a proprietary software product provided by Appriss, a
privately-held company headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.
VINE allows victims to register via the telephone or Internet to
be automatically notified of changes to offender status.
According to the Appris website, "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
million data transactions each month." There does not appear to
be any other provider of this service at this time.
The federal grant funds have been used to expand the electronic
victim notification program that was already in place at the
county jail level and administered by the California State
Sheriff's Association (CSSA) to include those victims whose
offender was in a state-level facility under the jurisdiction of
CDCR. At the time the federal grant funds were awarded, the lead
administrative agency for the State was transferred from the
CSSA to the CDCR. CDCR has indicated that CSSA retains an
independent contract with Appriss, and as such, CDCR has no
fiscal responsibility to or for the CSSA, and that each entity
is responsible for its own ongoing costs. The BJA federal grant
has been used to fund one-time costs for installation of the
program and will be fully expended by June 30, 2011. From that
point forward, the CDCR will be responsible for the ongoing
maintenance and operations costs of the program.
The CDCR executed a four-year sole source contract with Appriss
in June 2010, which includes annual ongoing system support
through 2014-15 at an annual cost of $250,000. The CDCR
indicates the source of funding will be the Restitution
Administrative Fee Special Deposit Fund (SDF), which is used for
reimbursement of administrative and support costs of CDCR's
restitution program. This SDF was established under Penal Code
section 2085.5(c) and is funded through collection of a 10
percent administration fee withheld from restitution fines
transferred to the Victim Compensation and Government Claims
Board (VCGCB). Per the Department of Finance, this SDF is
off-budget, does not require an appropriation, and will not
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require an annual request for budget augmentation for
expenditure of these funds.
Staff notes the annual ongoing system and support costs do not
include out-of-scope items such as notice of appeals to the
Attorney General's Office, restitution notifications, the
linking of registrations from county jails to CDCR, offender
photos, or identification warrants. To the extent CDCR chooses
to pursue these modifications, additional funding in excess of
the $250,000 in annual costs would be required.
Although the provisions of the bill afford victims the right to
receive notification of an offender's custody status by
electronic mail only if that method of communication is
available, there would be cost pressure to continue providing
this service once initiated. It is also unknown under what terms
and conditions the maintenance and support contract would be
extended, or at what cost. In the absence of any competitive
systems/software, future contracted costs could increase.
Further, the feasibility of changing vendors would most likely
require an entirely new system and may be cost prohibitive. CDCR
has indicated the balance of the SDF was approximately $2.5
million as of December 2010. It is unknown at this time what the
condition of the SDF will be prospectively or if the balance
will be adequate to fund the unknown future cost of an extended
contract. Further, since the funds are withheld from monies
transferred to the VCGCB, the authority to withhold these funds
could be revoked in the future. To the extent there may be
insufficient funding in the SDF to meet future contracted costs
would place cost pressure on the General Fund.
The provision of notification services via electronic mail could
result in future administrative cost efficiencies to the extent
fewer notifications by telephone or mail are provided. The level
of cost savings is unknown and would be dependent on the number
of victims utilizing the service in lieu of the existing methods
of communication. Staff notes electronic notification will not
be available for all offender status changes, and existing
written and oral means of notification will still be required
for offender status regarding death, placement in a re-entry
facility or work furlough program, or escape, as well as for
those victims who elect to receive release and parole hearing
notifications using existing methods.
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This bill also requires the CDCR to establish notification
procedures regarding the status of violent offenders, and would
require the local agency to inform the victim of the
notification procedures and explain to that person the right to
be so notified. The level of increased workload on local
agencies to inform each victim of the new notification
procedures that would now include the new electronic mail
notification system is unknown, and would depend to what length
the new notification procedures were explained to victims, but
could be significant given the number of victims involved.
According to the Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and
Services (OVSRS) database, on any given day over 300,000
offenders are under CDCR supervision and care, with at least one
victim per offender. Any increased costs to local agencies for
this increased workload would result in state-reimbursable costs
of an unknown amount.
The author's proposed amendments would remove the provision
mandating local agencies to inform victims of the new
notification procedures to reduce costs.