Administration of Justice 09/16/2010
Indemnity
SB 972 (Wolk) – Request for Comment
As Amended on August 2, 2010
Senate Bill 972, by Senator Lois Wolk, addresses issues related
to indemnity agreements between local agencies and design
professionals.
Currently, counties can include clauses in public construction
contracts that require a party to indemnify the county when
litigation arises involving that contract. In some instances,
counties require the design professional – the architect or
engineering firm – to fully indemnify the public agency for any
liability issue that arises during the construction and
subsequent use of the facility. SB 972 would limit the exposure
of that indemnity to only issues directly surrounding the work
performed by the design professional.
In a previous version of this measure, CSAC jointly opposed SB
972 with the Regional Council of Rural Counties (RCRC) –
along with a number of other municipalities — because of the
measure’s unintended consequences that could result in counties
and other local agencies having to cover the up-front legal costs
of a dispute where the design professional has exposure and/or
the design professional has some responsibility to defend.
Further, counties feared that it could lead to local agencies
having to substantiate that the design professional must
reimburse the county or local agency for the share of legal costs
when there is clearly a shared duty to defend.
In July, CSAC, along with RCRC and others, removed our opposition
after amendments appeared to merely clarify existing law and not
amend it. However, at that time, CSAC and RCRC made clear that we
reserved the right to weigh in on the bill at a later date, since
it appeared likely that additional discussions could result in
significant new amendments to the bill. Over the last several
weeks, a number of stakeholder discussions have taken place. At
this time, we are awaiting a new set of substantive amendments
that will need to be evaluated in short order. We urge counties
with an interest in this bill to please contact Rosemary
Lamb; we would like as many counties as possible to review the
forthcoming amendments to determine the bill’s impact.
SB 972 is currently on the Assembly Third Reading File.
Nuisance Abatement
AB 1502 (Eng) – Support
As Amended on June 16, 2010
Assembly Bill 1502, by Assembly Member Mike Eng, would grant
county counsels the authority to bring nuisance abatement
actions.
As counties are well aware, county district attorneys and city
attorneys are, pursuant to Section 17801 of the Business and
Professions Code, authorized to bring civil action against public
nuisance, controlled substance nuisance, gambling nuisance and
prostitution nuisance. AB 1502 would amend Section 17801 to
extend this authority to county counsels in an effort to address
these nuisance issues in rural and unincorporated areas of
counties. It is important to note that AB 1502 would impose on
county counsel the same reporting requirements currently required
of district attorneys and city attorneys relative to the use of
abatement actions.
This measure is being sponsored by the Los Angeles County
Sheriffs’ Department. It is currently in the Assembly awaiting
concurrence in Senate amendments.
Deceased Child Victims’ Protection and Privacy Act
SB 982 (Hollingsworth) – Request for Comment
As Amended on August 3, 2010
Senate Bill 982, by Senator Dennis Hollingsworth, seeks to enact
the Deceased Child Victims’ Protection and Privacy Act.
As we understand it, SB 982 is an effort to mitigate concerns
raised following the Chelsea King murder in San Diego earlier
this year. This bill would allow the autopsy report and evidence
associated with the case to be sealed in instances where a
juvenile is the victim who was not under court jurisdiction
(i.e., a ward of the court) and a family member has requested the
information be sealed. By allowing these records to be sealed the
measure provides an exemption – for these specified cases – to
the Public Records Act. The measure also provides protections for
the medical examiner and/or coroner in civil actions where he or
she unknowingly releases such information that was requested to
be sealed.
CSAC is asking counties to review this measure to determine if
adequate protections — and necessary processes in place to ensure
compliance — are provided to county medical examiners as they
seek to comply with the act.
SB 982 is currently in the Assembly awaiting committee
assignment.
Medical Parole
SB 1399 – Watch
As Amended on August 2, 2010
Senate Bill 1399, by Senator Mark Leno, would establish a medical
parole program for physically or cognitively incapacitated or
debilitated state prison inmates. According to information
provided by the sponsor – the federal healthcare receiver over
the state’s medical and mental health delivery systems – 32
inmates alone (who are either in a California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) treatment bed or in an
outside hospital) cost the state $42.6 million annually. This
figure includes costs for both medical care and guarding.
CSAC – along with a number of county affiliates – has worked with
the author’s office throughout the legislative session to address
our concerns regarding how a medical parole program is
implemented when the inmate is paroled into the community.
Throughout the process, there has been a joint commitment to
ensure that a medical parole program is designed in such a way as
to avoid a shift of the state’s expenses and responsibilities to
county governments. Recent amendments establish a process by
which the CDCR shall work with the federal government to seek
Medi-Cal coverage for medical parolees and specify that counties
shall be reimbursed on a quarterly basis for the non-federal
share of Medi-Cal coverage. Further, if the medical parolee is
found ineligible for Medi-Cal, the measure specifies that the
medical parolee’s medical needs are the responsibility of the
state.
SB 1399 was heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on
August 4, 2010 and passed out of committee on a 10-4 vote. It is
now awaits a vote on the Assembly Floor.
Alternative Custody
SB 1266 (Liu) – Watch
As Amended on August 3, 2010
Senate Bill 1266, by Senator Carol Liu, would establish an
alternative custody program made available on a voluntary basis
to female inmates, including those who are pregnant or who,
immediately prior to incarceration, were the primary caregivers
to dependent children. It is anticipated that up to 5,000 female
inmates would be eligible for participation. The bill identifies
some criteria – including the presence of serious, violent, or
sex-related offenses in the criminal background; a history of
escaping from a detention facility; or a risk to commit a violent
offense – that would preclude participation in this program.
CSAC – along with a number of county affiliates – has worked with
the author’s office to ensure that the measure is designed and
implemented in a manner that does not shift costs for this
specified group of offenders to counties for the time period that
they would have otherwise been incarcerated within the state
detention system. Recent amendments articulate the author’s
intent to avoid transferring the state’s costs to local
governments. The author’s office has been very sensitive to local
impacts and has been committed to addressing any local impacts
identified by counties.
SB 1266 was heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on
August 4, 2010 and passed out of committee on a 10-5 vote. It is
currently on the Assembly Third Reading File.