BILL NUMBER: SB 1937 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Schiff
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Machado)
FEBRUARY 24, 2000
An act to add Section 531 to the Military and Veterans Code, and
to add Sections 731.3 and 731.4 to, and to add Article 20.5
(commencing with Section 790) to Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 2
of, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to minors, and
declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1937, as introduced, Schiff. Juveniles: boot camps.
Existing law provides that a minor who is alleged to have
committed a criminal offense is within the jurisdiction of the
juvenile court.
Existing law also provides that a minor who commits specified acts
while at school or a school activity off school grounds may be
expelled from school.
This bill would enact the Zero Tolerance Offense Remediation Act.
The bill would require commitment to the Department of the Youth
Authority for minors who are 15 years of age or older and who are
found to have committed any one of specified offenses while at school
or during a school activity off school grounds, as specified.
However, the bill also would provide for an alternative commitment
to a residential boot camp academy program that would be authorized
to be established and operated by the Adjutant General. The bill
would also establish a procedure for deferred entry of judgment in
cases before the juvenile court for the commission of one of the
above described offenses, where specified circumstances are found to
apply, requiring participation in a residential boot camp academy
program. Successful completion of the program would result in
dismissal of charges and sealing of records. These provisions
establishing the alternative commitment and deferred entry of
judgment would be applicable only in counties in which the board of
supervisors has adopted a resolution making these provisions
applicable.
The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an
urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 531 is added to the Military and Veterans Code,
to read:
531. The Adjutant General may develop, establish, and operate
residential and nonresidential boot camp academies and similar
programs for minors residing in California, including, but not
limited to, first time juvenile offenders. The boot camp academies
shall consist of an intensive program of treatment, physical
training, education, drug treatment, and counseling services for
eligible wards of the juvenile court. A minor selected for the boot
camp academy program shall meet all of the criteria described in
Section 731.4 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
SEC. 2. Section 731.3 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
731.3. Any minor who is 15 years of age or older and who is found
to have committed an offense described in subdivision (c) of Section
48915 of the Education Code at school or a school activity off
school grounds shall be committed to the Department of the Youth
Authority, except as otherwise provided in Section 731.4.
SEC. 3. Section 731.4 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
731.4. (a) In lieu of commitment to the Department of the Youth
Authority, a minor who is found to have committed an offense
described in subdivision (c) of Section 48915 of the Education Code
at school or a school activity off school grounds may be placed in a
12-month residential boot camp academy program operated by the
Military Department pursuant to Section 531 of the Military and
Veterans Code, as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c).
(b) In order to be eligible to participate in a residential boot
camp academy program described in subdivision (a), a minor shall meet
all of the following criteria:
(1) The minor is 15 years of age or older.
(2) The minor has not been previously found to have committed any
offense described in subdivision (b) of Section 707.
(3) The minor has not previously participated in the Military
Department's boot camp academy program.
(4) The minor has not previously been committed to the Department
of the Youth Authority.
(c) Prior to referral to a residential boot camp academy program
the minor shall be assessed by the county probation officer. The
assessment shall determine whether the minor is physically and
psychologically suitable to participate in the program. The
assessment shall also include a determination as to the availability
of space in the residential boot camp academy program. If the minor
is found to be unsuitable for placement in the program, or if space
is not available, the minor shall be returned to the juvenile court
for commitment to the Department of the Youth Authority, pursuant to
Section 731.3. The minor shall be permitted to withdraw an admission
of guilt entered pursuant to a deferred entry of judgment program
established pursuant to Article 20.5 (commencing with Section 790),
and the case shall proceed pursuant to Article 17 (commencing with
Section 675).
(d) This section shall apply only in a county in which the board
of supervisors has adopted a resolution making this section and
Article 20.5 (commencing with Section 790) applicable to the county.
The resolution shall state the intention of the county to comply
with all of the requirements of those provisions, and to provide
transportation for the minors to and from the boot camp academy.
SEC. 4. Article 20.5 (commencing with Section 790) is added to
Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 2 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
Article 20.5. Deferred Entry of Judgment
790. (a) Notwithstanding Section 654 or 654.2, or any other
provision of law, this article shall apply whenever a case is before
the juvenile court for a determination of whether a minor is a person
described in Section 602 because of the commission of an offense
described in subdivision (c) of Section 48915 of the Education Code
at school or a school activity off school grounds, if all of the
following circumstances apply:
(1) The minor has not previously been committed to the custody of
the Youth Authority.
(2) The minor's record does not indicate that probation has ever
been revoked without being completed.
(3) The minor is at least 15 years of age at the time of the
hearing.
(4) The minor is eligible for probation pursuant to Section
1203.06 of the Penal Code.
(b) The prosecuting attorney shall review his or her file to
determine whether or not paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, of
subdivision (a) apply. Upon the agreement of the prosecuting
attorney, the public defender or the minor's private defense
attorney, and the presiding judge of the juvenile court or a judge
designated by the presiding judge to the application of this article,
this procedure shall be completed as soon as possible after the
initial filing of the petition. If the prosecuting attorney, the
defense attorney, and the juvenile court judge do not agree, the case
shall proceed according to Article 17 (commencing with Section 675).
If the minor is found eligible for deferred entry of judgment, the
prosecuting attorney shall file a declaration in writing with the
court or state for the record the grounds upon which the
determination is based, and shall make this information available to
the minor and his or her attorney. Under this procedure, the court
may set the hearing for deferred entry of judgment at the initial
appearance under Section 657.
791. (a) The prosecuting attorney's written notification to the
minor shall also include all of the following:
(1) A full description of the procedures for deferred entry of
judgment.
(2) A general explanation of the roles and authorities of the
probation department, the prosecuting attorney, the program, and the
court in that process.
(3) A clear statement that, in lieu of jurisdictional and
disposition hearings, the court may grant a deferred entry of
judgment with respect to any offense charged in the petition,
provided that the minor admits each allegation contained in the
petition and waives time for the pronouncement of judgment, and that
upon the successful completion of the 12-month residential boot camp
academy program, the positive recommendation of the probation
department, and the motion of the prosecuting attorney, the court
shall dismiss the charge or charges against the minor.
(4) A clear statement that upon any failure of the minor to comply
with the orders and requirements of the Military Department's boot
camp academy program or any circumstances specified in Section 793,
the prosecuting attorney or the probation department, or the court on
its own, may make a motion to the court for entry of judgment and
the court shall render a finding that the minor is a ward of the
court pursuant to Section 602 for the offenses specified in the
original petition and shall schedule a dispositional hearing.
(5) An explanation of record retention and disposition resulting
from participation in the deferred entry of judgment program and the
minor's rights relative to answering questions about his or her
arrest and deferred entry of judgment following successful completion
of the program.
(b) If the minor consents and waives his or her right to a speedy
jurisdictional hearing, the court may refer the case to the probation
department or the court may summarily grant deferred entry of
judgment if the minor admits a charge or charges in the petition and
waives time for the pronouncement of judgment. When directed by the
court, the probation department shall make an investigation and take
into consideration the defendant's age, maturity, educational
background, family relationships, demonstrable motivation, treatment
history, if any, and other mitigating and aggravating factors in
determining whether the minor is a person who would be benefited by
participation in the 12-month residential boot camp academy program
offered by the Military Department. The probation department shall
report its findings and recommendations to the court. The court
shall make the final determination regarding education, treatment,
and rehabilitation of the minor.
(c) A minor's admission of the charges contained in the petition
shall not constitute a finding that a petition has been sustained for
any purpose, unless a judgment is entered pursuant to subdivision
(b) of Section 793.
792. The judge shall issue a citation directing any custodial
parent, guardian, or foster parent of the minor to appear at the time
and place set for the hearing, and directing any person having
custody or control of the minor concerning whom the petition has been
filed to bring the minor with him or her. The notice shall explain
the provisions of Section 170.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
Personal service shall be made at least 24 hours before the time
stated for the appearance.
793. (a) If, after accepting deferred entry of judgment and
during the period in which deferred entry of judgment was granted,
the minor is convicted of, or declared to be a person described in
Section 602 for the commission of, any felony offense or of any two
misdemeanor offenses committed on separate occasions, the judge shall
enter judgment and schedule a dispositional hearing. If the minor
is convicted of, or found to be a person described in Section 602,
because of the commission of one misdemeanor offense, or multiple
misdemeanor offenses committed during a single occasion, the court
may enter judgment and schedule a dispositional hearing.
(b) If the judgment previously deferred is imposed and a
dispositional hearing scheduled pursuant to subdivision (a), the
juvenile court shall report the complete criminal history of the
minor to the Department of Justice.
(c) (1) If the minor has performed satisfactorily during the
period in which deferred entry of judgment was granted, at the end of
that period the charge or charges in the wardship petition shall be
dismissed and the arrest upon which the judgment was deferred shall
be deemed never to have occurred and any records in the possession of
the juvenile court shall be sealed, except that the prosecuting
attorney and the probation department of any county shall have access
to these records after they are sealed for the limited purpose of
determining whether a minor is eligible for deferred entry of
judgment pursuant to Section 790. Nothing in this section is
intended to abrogate the minor's rights pursuant to Section 781
regarding the sealing of records.
(2) If the minor successfully completes the one-year residential
treatment component of a Military Department boot camp academy
program, the minor shall be permitted to reenroll in the school from
which he or she was expelled pursuant to Section 48915 of the
Education Code, if applicable.
794. The judge shall impose, as a condition of placement in a
Military Department boot camp academy, the requirement that the minor
be subject to warrantless searches of his or her person, or property
under his or her control, upon the request of the cadre of the boot
camp academy. The minor shall also be required to pay restitution to
the victim or victims pursuant to the provisions of this code and to
comply with all orders and requirements of the Military Department's
boot camp academy program. If the minor is found to be unsuitable
for continuation in the boot camp academy program, he or she shall be
returned to the juvenile court to be committed to an institution
operated by the Youth Authority, pursuant to Section 731.3.
795. This article shall only apply in a county in which the board
of supervisors has adopted a resolution making this article and
Section 731.4 applicable to the county. The resolution shall state
the intention of the county to comply with all of the requirements of
those provisions and to provide transportation for the minors to and
from the boot camp academy.
SEC. 5. This act shall be known as the Zero Tolerance Offense
Remediation Act.
SEC. 6. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to make the programs authorized by this act available,
and to make the statutory changes necessary to implement the Budget
Act of 2000, at the earliest possible time, it is necessary that this
act take effect immediately.