BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1255
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 20, 1999
Consultant: Ignacio Hernandez
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Mike Honda, Chair
AB 1255 (Wright) - As Proposed to be Amended: April 7, 1999
SUMMARY : Authorizes the creation of early release supervised
probation programs for low-risk offenders. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Authorizes the court to sentence a person convicted of a
felony punishable by 16 months, 2 or 3 years, or one, two, or
three years to a specialized probation program.
2)Excludes from eligibility any person convicted of a violent
felony as defined by Penal Code Section 667.5.
3)Excludes from eligibility any person convicted of a serious
felony as defined by Penal Code Section 1192.7.
4)Excludes from eligibility any person convicted of any one a
list of offenses including:
a) Gross vehicular Manslaughter while intoxicated or
vehicular manslaughter;
b) Molestation of a minor;
c) Drug trafficking;
d) Assault upon an elected official, prosecutor, public
defender, or law enforcement agent;
e) Battery;
f) Assault;
g) Pimping;
h) Willful infliction of corporal punishment;
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i) Incest;
j) Sodomy;
k) Commission of lewd act; or,
l) Unlawful reproduction of CD-ROMS, computer hardware and
other specified items.
5)Excludes from eligibility a person who has a significant
criminal history.
6)Sets as criterion for eligibility, that the offender would
benefit from education, treatment, and rehabilitation and
public safety will not be threatened.
7)Gives priority enrollment to a person who has a substance
abuse problem.
8)Sets nine months as the term for intensive supervised
probation;
9)Authorizes house arrest, electronic monitoring and community
service to be a mandatory component of program.
10)Requires a probation term of four years upon completion of
nine-month intensive supervised probation.
11)Requires the probationer to be employed, actively seeking
employment, or enrolled in school during time of intense
supervised probation.
12)Defines participation in intensive supervised probation
program as a "prison prior".
13)Vests authority in the Board of Corrections to monitor
financial expenditures of program.
14)Limits the maximum caseload of a probation officer employed
by intensive supervised probation program to 40.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Enumerates as violent felonies, murder, voluntary
manslaughter, mayhem, rape, sodomy by force, oral copulation
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by force, lewd acts with a child under 14, a felony punishable
by death or life imprisonment, a felony causing great bodily
injury, robbery, arson, attempted murder, kidnapping
continuous sexual abuse of a child, and carjacking. (Penal
Code Section 667.5.)
2)Enumerates 35 serious felonies. (Penal Code Section 1192.7.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement. According to the author, "Prison
conditions in California cannot be ignored forever.
Eventually we are going to have to build more space, be
subject to a federal court order or try some alternative
sentencing schemes. AB 1255 is an effort to work with key
stockholders and look at the best models available to develop
alternative sentencing strategies for low risk offenders to
both prevent some from entering the system and to keep others
from returning as parole violations. The cost savings from
successful programs are obvious but we have to begin soon or
face fiscal alternatives that are substantially costlier to
the state in the long run."
2)Little Hoover Commission Report. The Little Hoover Commission
examined California's state prisons and local corrections
facilities. The Commission concluded that the Legislature,
law enforcement, and local government should explore
alternatives to incarceration for low-risk, non-violent
offenders. This bill is the result of the Commission's
recommendations.
The Commission confirmed that the jails are filled beyond
capacity. According to the report, "325,203 jail inmates were
released early to make room for more serious offenders;
106,482 were pretrial and 218,721 were sentenced inmates."
With early release, however, the Commission indicated that
current probation services are inadequate. Probation officers
are responsible for a large number of probationers.
Consequently, the interaction between the probation officers
and released inmates is limited. A probation officer is
unable to form a professional relationship with his or her
client to reinforce the goals of probation. This bill imposes
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a reasonable cap upon the number of clients managed by a
probation officer.
The Little Hoover Commission spoke with a local judge who
stated, "At one time, I had enormous confidence in the
probation department. Now, most people I put in probation
don't have a real probation officer, or if they do have a
probation officer they only see him once a month, so they know
they can do drugs the next day. In the past, I would have
given some of them another chance. Now, on close cases, I'm
leaning toward state prison."
3)Drug Diversion. Counties have the option of providing "drug
diversion" for first-time drug offenders. Under this
alternative sentencing scheme, a defendant enrolls in a
rehabilitation program in lieu of adjudication. Upon
successful completion of the program, the charges against the
defendant are dismissed. This bill does not explain whether
drug diversion would be considered a prior probation or jail
sentence when considering whether a defendant is eligible for
the proposed probation program. Nor does this bill suggest
whether diversion and the proposed probation program should
co-exist. The author of this bill may wish to consider
addressing these issues.
4)Proposed Amendments. The author may consider limiting
eligibility to those persons who have not been on probation or
served time in a county jail within five years of the current
offense.
The author may also consider restating Penal Code Section
1210.4(a)(7): "The offender is not sentenced to the state
prison for at least two years. For the purpose of this
chapter, the term, 'committed to the state prison for two
years or less' refers to the length of the length of the
prison sentence."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Little Hoover Commission
Opposition
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California Correctional Peace Officers Association
Analysis Prepared by : Ignacio Hernandez / PUB.S. / (916)
319-3744