BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 2121
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 30, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                    AB 2121 (Gray) - As Amended:  April 21, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                              Public  
          SafetyVote:  7-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:   
           Yes   Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill clarifies a parolee required to register as a sex  
          offender must report to a parole agent to have a GPS device  
          affixed within one working day of release from custody, or as  
          instructed by a parole agent. This bill also clarifies that a  
          parolee required to register as a sex offender is prohibited not  
          only from removing or disabling the GPS device, but from  
          rendering it inoperable or knowingly circumventing its  
          operation.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible, as this bill clarifies current practice. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . According to the author, "AB 2121 addresses a  
            dangerous oversight in the current statutes relating to  
            paroled sex offenders.  Last year, SB 57 was enacted to  
            require that parolees who remove their GPS monitoring device  
            face a mandatory 180-day incarceration.  However, there is no  
            statue that provides for any recourse should a parolee fail to  
            report to have the monitoring device affixed in the first  
            place or if the parolee willfully renders the device  
            inoperable without physically removing the device."

           2)Support  . The CA District Attorneys Association writes, "Senate  
            Bill 57 (Statutes of 2013) requires a mandatory 180 days in  
            custody for registered sex offenders on parole who remove or  
            disable their GPS device. However, a loophole exists that  
            allows these offenders to receive a much shorter sentence if  








                                                                  AB 2121
                                                                  Page  2

            they never show up to have the device attached in the first  
            place?.

          "AB 2121 builds on the foundation established in SB 57 by  
            ensuring that these dangerous individuals are not able to game  
            the system and avoid the intent of SB 57 by never reporting to  
            their parole agents. Whether they never show up, or later cut  
            off their monitor, they will now receive the same mandatory  
            sentence."

           3)Prior Legislation  . SB 57 (Leiu), Statutes of 2013, requires a  
            mandatory 180-day incarceration for a sex offender on parole  
            who removes or disables a GPS device.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081