BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 16
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 6, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 16 (Gaines) - As Amended: June 17, 2014
Policy Committee: Local
GovernmentVote:9 - 0
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill provides a process for the state to reimburse counties
for defense costs in nonhomicide criminal trials commencing
after January 1, 2012, that are investigated and prosecuted by
the Attorney General (AG) due to the scope and complexity of the
case. Specifically, this bill:
1)Defines "costs incurred by the county" to mean all costs,
except normal salaries and expenses, incurred in trial
defense, including pre-trials, hearings, and post-conviction
proceedings, and all costs incurred by the public defender in
investigation and defense.
2)Authorizes a county to apply to the State Controller
(Controller) for reimbursement of eligible costs and provides
that reimbursement funds are subject to appropriation by the
Legislature, and are available for three fiscal years from the
date of appropriation, after which, unused funds will revert
back to the General Fund.
3)Prohibits the Controller from reimbursing costs that exceed
the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims
Board's standards for travel and per diem expenses.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Unknown, potentially significant General Fund costs in a given
fiscal year in which an authorized claim is received. It is
likely that claims will be intermittent and would not exceed
hundreds of thousands in costs in a given year. Costs would
depend upon the number of cases investigated and prosecuted by
SB 16
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the AG that result in indigent defense costs for an affected
county.
2)Potential costs of $600,000 annually (GF) for several years to
reimburse Nevada County. Nevada County has incurred $92,000 in
costs in a potentially qualifying case as of the end of the
2012-13 fiscal year and anticipates costs will escalate as the
trial approaches and begins, likely reaching $600,000
annually.
3)Minor and absorbable costs to the Controller, assuming very
few claims are submitted annually by eligible counties.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, the Lester et. al case in
Nevada County is a major real estate fraud case. The case is
being prosecuted by the State Attorney General, and the
defense is being provided by the County's indigent defense
fund for three of the defendants. It is estimated the defense
costs of these three individuals to the County's general fund
may exceed $600,000 annually. Existing law requires that
counsel must be provided at public expense to an indigent
defendant charged with any felony or misdemeanor, but provides
no dispensation for small counties defending the indigent in
nonhomicide cases. The author contends providing legal
counsel against all of the resources of the AG is a daunting
fiscal task and may result in severe impacts to Nevada
County's general fund.
This bill provides for reimbursement to counties in
nonhomicide cases, but without the minimum cost threshold
required for reimbursement in homicide cases. Nevada County is
the only known candidate to which the bill applies at this
time.
2)Background . Existing law authorizes counties to apply to the
Controller for reimbursement of eligible costs for
investigations, trials, or hearings related to homicide crimes
that exceed a threshold of .0125 of 1% of the full assessed
value of property in that county. The Legislature adopted the
policy of reimbursing counties for extraordinary costs related
to homicide trials in 1961 in order to provide uniform
administration of justice throughout the state, avoid delays
in prosecuting and conducting homicide trials, and prevent
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counties' finances from being impaired by homicide trial
costs. According to the Controller, five counties have
qualified for over $1 million in reimbursement from the
General Fund over the past three fiscal years for costs
associated with 10 homicide trials.
3)Nevada County . On September 20, 2012, four suspects were
arrested in Nevada County and charged with securities fraud,
conspiracy, and elder abuse for operating a Ponzi scheme that
allegedly bilked dozens of investors of over $2.3 million.
The arrests were the result of an investigation conducted by
the State Department of Justice's Special Crimes Unit (SCU),
which coordinates the investigation and prosecution of crimes
involving large-scale, investment and financial fraud, public
corruption cases, and high-tech crimes where the scope and
complexity of offenses exceed the investigative and
prosecutorial resources of local law enforcement and other
state agencies. The criminal case is being prosecuted by the
Attorney General's Mortgage Fraud Strike Force. Nevada County
has a small public defenders' office. County officials
indicate that costs to provide counsel for indigent defendants
in such a major and complex real estate fraud case could have
a severe impact on the county's finances.
Nevada County anticipates its costs will likely reach $600,000
annually. Under current law regarding homicide trials, Nevada
County would have to incur aggregate defense costs of $1.89
million before it would be eligible for reimbursement of costs
above that amount by the state. Under this bill, all costs
for this nonhomicide trial would be immediately reimbursable
by the state.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081