BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 326 (Beall) - Sex Offenders: Permission to be on a School
Campus
Amended: May 7, 2013 Policy Vote: Education 9-0; Pub.
Safety 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: May 20, 2013 Consultant: Jacqueline
Wong-Hernandez
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 326 requires a school's chief academic official
(CAO), if permission to come onto the school's campus is
requested by a registered sex offender, as specified, prior to
considering whether to grant permission to the individual, to
consult with the person's registering authority. This bill
requires the registering authority to consult with the CAO and
provide the following information: a) The person's most recent
static State Authorized Risk Assessment Tool for Sex Offenders
(SARATSO) assessment score, as specified; b) a brief description
of the facts underlying the offense or offenses for which the
person is required to register, as provided; c) any facts known
to the registering authority that indicate the person poses a
current risk to children; and, d) the registering authorities'
assessment, based on that information of the risk that the
person will reoffend. This bill requires a CAO who decides to
grant permission to the individual to notify the parents of
every student, as specified.
Fiscal Impact: This bill requires specific actions be taken by
CAOs and local law enforcement agencies, if a CAO elects to
consider granting permission for a registered sex offender to
come onto a school campus. The requirements for both the CAO and
local law enforcement agencies would be triggered by the CAO's
decision.
Mandate: This bill places a significant new reimbursable
mandate on local law enforcement agencies, by requiring them
to respond and share information, as detailed, to requests
from CAOs.
Background: SB 1128 (Alquist) Ch. 337/2006 made several changes
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to statutes governing the registration and monitoring of sex
offenders. Among other things, the bill provided that a
registered sex offender who comes into any school building or
upon any school ground without lawful business thereon and
written permission from the CAO of that school, is guilty of a
misdemeanor. The bill also established the SARATSO, the
requirement that all registered sex offenders to undergo
assessment, and that training be given to law enforcement
personnel and others who may administer the SARATSO.
Proposed Law: SB 326 requires a school's CAO, if permission to
come onto the school's campus is requested by a registered sex
offender who is not the parent or guardian of a pupil enrolled
at the school, to either deny the request or to consult with the
sex offender registrant's registering authority prior to
considering grating permission. This bill requires the local law
enforcement agency that serves as the registering authority for
the individual to disclose to the CAO specified information
regarding the individual's documented and perceived risk of
committing additional sexual or violent offenses. This bill
would further require that, if the CAO determines after
consulting with the registering authority that the registrant
will be granted permission to come into a school building or
upon school grounds and the registering authority has concluded
that the person poses a moderate to high risk of reoffending,
the CAO must notify the parent or guardian of every pupil at the
school, as specified.
Staff Comments: Existing law requires that any person who is
required to register as a sex offender who comes into any school
building or upon any school ground must have lawful business
thereon and written permission from the CAO. This bill makes it
more difficult to obtain that written permission for individuals
who are not parents of attending pupils, by placing extensive
new requirements on a CAO if he or she elects to consider
granting that permission. The likely effect is that CAOs will
simply deny permission, in order to avoid the significant extra
work required by this bill. To the extent that CAOs do wish to
consider granting permission, however, their ability to compel
local law enforcement places a new mandate on local law
enforcement, which the Commission on State Mandates is likely to
deem a higher level of service.
This bill specifies that the local law enforcement agency (which
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is the registering authority) must, during the consultation,
disclose to the CAO, the following information:
The person's most SARATSO assessment score, and most recent
SARATSO dynamic tool and SARATSO future violence tool
assessment scores, if those scores are available from the
California Sex and Arson Registry. "Disclosing" this
information will functionally require a law enforcement
official to explain the way that California assesses sex
offenders, including what static and dynamic assessments
measure, what the scores mean, and how they are utilized to
assess risk of re-offense.
Facts underlying the offense or offenses for which the person
is required to register, if that information is available from
the California Sex and Arson Registry, police reports, or
presentencing reports. This requires the local law enforcement
official to research the case, explain the offenses to the
CAO, and be prepared to answer questions from the CAO.
Any facts known to the registering authority that indicate the
person poses a current risk to children, including, but not
limited to, the presence of risk factors associated with
committing sexual or violent offenses.
The registering authorities' assessment, based on the
information previously identified, of the risk that the person
will reoffend. This requires the local law enforcement
official to discuss this point with the CAO and, likely, to
provide advice.
While the duties prescribed by this bill to local law
enforcement agencies are likely capable of being completed by
those entities, they will be able to submit mandate
reimbursement claims for those activities, including any staff
time spent on (or preparing for) the consultation required by
this bill, as well as training that may be necessary for
officials to ensure their compliance with all of the criteria
required for the consultation.