BILL ANALYSIS �
SCR 64
Page 1
Date of Hearing: January 13, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
SCR 64 (Roth) - As Amended: August 22, 2013
SENATE VOTE : 36-0
SUBJECT : Memorial Highway Naming
SUMMARY : Designates a portion of State Route (SR) 15 in
Riverside County as the Sergeant Gilbert Cortez and K-9 Mattie
Memorial Highway. Specifically, this bill :
1)Recounts the life of Sergeant Gilbert Cortez and his K-9
partner Mattie.
2)Designates a portion of SR 15 in Riverside County as the
Sergeant Gilbert Cortez and K-9 Mattie Memorial Highway.
3)Requests that the California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) determine the cost of appropriate signs, consistent
with the signing requirements for the state highway system,
showing the special designation and, upon receiving donations
from non-state sources covering that cost, to erect those
signs.
EXISTING LAW : Assigns Caltrans the responsibility to determine
the cost of appropriate signs, consistent with the signing
requirements for the state highway system, showing the special
designation and, upon receiving donations from non-state sources
covering that cost, to erect those signs.
FISCAL EFFECT : Costs to make and erect the appropriate signs
are covered by donations.
COMMENTS : Sergeant Gilbert Cortez started his law enforcement
career in 1990 when he began working at the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. His first
assignment was the Institution for Men in Chino; a year later he
was transferred to the investigative unit at the Calipatria
State Prison. In 2001, Sergeant Cortez was transferred to Norco
Prison to complete K-9 training, at which time he was partnered
with Mattie and assigned to the Southern Regional K-9 Unit.
SCR 64
Page 2
On March 25, 2013, Sergeant Cortez and Mattie were in the lead
vehicle of a convoy of a half dozen state corrections K-9
officers en route to inspect the La Cima Fire Camp in rural San
Diego County. Sergeant Cortez' patrol vehicle veered off the
road and overturned, killing Mattie instantly. Sergeant Cortez
was critically wounded and died shortly after the accident. The
cause of the crash is not known.
Sergeant Cortez is survived by his wife, two children, and his
parents.
This resolution designates the portion of SR 15 from Second
Street in Norco to Limonite Avenue in Eastvale in Riverside
County as the "Sergeant Gilbert Cortez and K-9 Mattie Memorial
Highway." The resolution further requests that Caltrans erect
appropriate signs upon receiving donations from non-state
sources to cover the costs.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916) 319-
2093