BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 968 (Wright) - Inmates: electronic monitoring.
Amended: April 10, 2012 Policy Vote: Public Safety 7-0
Urgency: Yes Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 14, 2012 Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 968, an urgency measure, would authorize a
defendant arrested without a warrant for a bailable felony
punishable by imprisonment in the county jail to apply to the
court at the preliminary hearing, or anytime thereafter, for
release on reduced bail if the defendant agrees to be placed in
an electronic monitoring program, as specified.
Fiscal Impact: Potential ongoing annual costs of approximately
$415,000 to $1.7 million (General Fund) per 10 percent of
eligible detained defendants who apply for reduced bail at the
preliminary hearing or at a subsequent hearing, respectively.
This estimate assumes an additional 15 minutes per preliminary
hearing and one hour per separate hearing for 2,500 defendants
who otherwise may not have applied for reduced bail under
existing law.
Background: Existing law permits a county board of supervisors
to authorize a county correctional administrator to place county
jail inmates who are being held in lieu of bail in a voluntary
program of home detention, including electronic monitoring, when
certain conditions are met. An eligible inmate must be a
low-level offender with no outstanding holds or warrants and
must have been held in custody for at least 30 or 60 days on
misdemeanor or felony charges, respectively.
Under existing law, no court hearing is required for release of
an individual pursuant to an electronic monitoring program upon
expiration of the specified minimum period in custody. All
participants are subject to discretionary review by the
correctional administrator. Further, the board of supervisors
may prescribe reasonable rules and regulations under which a
program may operate. The inmate must agree in writing with the
rules and regulations which include required compliance with
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designated hours of detention and grounds for remanding a
participant into custody.
Proposed Law: This bill would provide that if a person is
arrested without a warrant for a bailable offense, and that
offense is punishable as a jail felony pursuant to Penal Code
section 1170(h), the person may apply to the court at the
preliminary hearing, or anytime thereafter, for release on bail
reduced by up to 75 percent of the set amount of bail if the
defendant agrees to be placed in an electronic monitoring
program administered by the county-authorized correctional
administrator.
If the defendant is released on reduced bail and placed in an
electronic monitoring program, the name, address, and contact
information of any applicable bail agent or surety must be
provided to the court and the correctional administrator
responsible for providing the electronic monitoring program.
Prior Legislation: AB 109 (Committee on Budget) Chapter 15/2011,
the 2011 Public Safety Realignment bill containing necessary
statutory and technical changes to implement changes to the
Budget Act of 2011, provided that a county board of supervisors
may implement a program of pretrial release on electronic
monitoring. This section provided that a felony defendant may
not be released on electronic monitoring without bail until he
or she has been held in custody for 60 days.
AB 1369 (Davis) 2010 would have expanded eligibility for the
county jail involuntary home detention program which requires
approval by the board of supervisors by deleting the misdemeanor
limitation, thereby opening up the optional program to sentenced
felony offenders. This bill was vetoed by the Governor with the
following message:
I am returning Assembly Bill 1369 without my signature. This
bill would allow the use of voluntary or involuntary electronic
monitoring programs for inmates being held in lieu of bail for
both misdemeanors and felonies. Although this bill would give
counties facing jail overcrowding problems the flexibility to
place inmates on electronic monitoring, this bill is
fundamentally flawed. Under existing law, if a misdemeanant
absconds or flees from a voluntary alternative custody program,
he or she is subject to felony prosecution. Under this bill, if
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a person is charged with a felony and escapes or cuts off their
electronic monitoring device while participating in an
alternative custody program, he or she can only be prosecuted
for a misdemeanor. A person should not be subject to
misdemeanor penalties for evading felony prosecution. For these
reasons, I am unable to sign this bill.
Staff Comments: The provisions of this bill could result in
lengthier and/or additional court hearings than otherwise would
have occurred under existing law. The Judicial Council indicates
the consideration of a request for reduced bail at the
preliminary hearing would extend the length of proceedings.
Based on an average daily court cost of $4,000, an increased
length in proceedings of 15 minutes would incur additional costs
of $167 per hearing.
Approximately 25,000 individuals per year of the total
population projected under Realignment would potentially be
impacted under the provisions of this bill. For every 10 percent
of eligible defendants (25,000 x 0.1) who seek this relief at
his/her preliminary hearing, 2,500 defendants per year would
result in increased costs of $417,000 (General Fund) per year
based on an additional 15 minutes per hearing. Given there does
not appear to be a negative
To the extent the provisions of this bill result in additional
requests for reduced bail at any time after the preliminary
hearing than otherwise would not have occurred under existing
law, additional court hearings would need to be calendared and
adjudicated. Assuming an additional hour for a new hearing would
result in increased court costs of $1.6 million (General Fund)
per year based on an estimated cost of $667 per hearing for
2,500 defendants.