AOJ Bills of Interest: Second House Updates
June 8, 2023
CSAC staff have been working with the Legislature and stakeholders to help shape bills that impact counties. Below is a summary of CSAC’s position on bills of interest in the Administration of Justice policy area. For further information please contact AOJ policy committee staff.
Support
AB 33 (Bains) – Fentanyl Addiction and Overdose Prevention Task Force.
This measure, subject to an appropriation, would establish the Fentanyl Addiction and Overdose Prevention Task Force to undertake various duties relating to the assessment of the nature and extent of fentanyl abuse in California, the evaluation of strategies to increase public awareness of fentanyl abuse, and the implementation of evidence-based practices to help address the crisis. CSAC supports AB 33 in the development of recommendations to strengthen state and local efforts to prevent fentanyl abuse and death, protect and assist persons who misuse fentanyl or other illicit substances that may contain fentanyl, and develop policy recommendations. AB 33 will be heard next in the Senate Committee on Public Safety.
AB 479 (Rubio) – Alternative domestic violence program.
This urgency measure would extend the sunset from July 1, 2023, to July 1, 2026, for the alternative domestic violence intervention programs in six counties: Napa, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Yolo. In 2017, former Assembly Member Mark Stone authored AB 372 to help advance domestic violence batterer intervention programs. CSAC co-sponsored this legislation, which authorized the six counties to pilot alternative interventions, focusing on creating opportunities for change to prevent future incidents of domestic violence. CSAC supports AB 479 and the continuation of the domestic violence batterer intervention pilot program. AB 479 will be heard next in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 745 (Bryan) – Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program.
This measure directs the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to establish a Reentry Housing and Workforce Development program and would provide competitive, five-year renewable grants through the HCD in coordination with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The grants from the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program would be available to counties to fund evidence-based housing and workforce development interventions to prevent individuals with recent histories of incarceration from becoming homeless, becoming gainfully employed, and remaining stably housed. Counties will have the opportunity to apply for grants and use the funds for long-term rental assistance in permanent housing operating subsidies in new and existing affordable or supportive housing, landlord incentives for security deposits and holding fees, as well as tenancy, wrap-around, and other critical services to assist individuals with exiting homelessness. CSAC supports AB 745 as it aligns with our AT HOME plan to address homelessness and reduce recidivism by providing evidence-based housing, and employment and housing services to recently released and soon-to-be-released individuals. The author decided to make this a 2-year bill.
AB 1329 (Maienschein) – County jail incarcerated persons: identification card pilot program.
This measure would authorize the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to implement a 5-year pilot program, similar to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the DMV’s California Identification Card (CAL-ID) program, which ensures that eligible incarcerated individuals are provided a valid identification card (ID) or driver’s license (DL) when they are released from a County of San Diego detention facility. CSAC supports AB 1329 as it builds upon work from 2014 that was developed to meet the foundational needs of individuals reintegrating back into the community. A valid state-issued ID or DL has an immediate impact on reentry, more specifically access to fundamental services such as housing, employment, health care, banking, and education. The ultimate goal of AB 1329 is to also encourage the state to work with additional counties so individuals across California can reap the shared benefits. AB 1329 will be heard next in the Senate Committee on Public Safety.
SB 75 (Roth) – Courts: judgeships.
This measure, subject to an appropriation, would authorize 26 additional superior court judgeships and requires the Judicial Council to allocate the judgeships to the county superior courts, pursuant to specified standards for factually determining judicial need in each county. CSAC supports SB 75 as it is critical that the state funds additional judgeships to meet the caseload demand in every county. The shortage of judges has detrimental and lasting impacts on the ability of counties to ensure that our judicial system serves all residents in our state. SB 75 will be heard next in Senate Judiciary Committee.
This measure would add affordable housing projects intended for formerly incarcerated individuals as a priority in the disposal of state surplus land and provides that these projects are a use by right. SB 240 would be a positive step aimed at preventing homelessness by ensuring that affordable housing is developed for criminal justice-involved individuals who need assistance transitioning back into our communities. CSAC supports SB 240 as it aligns with our AT HOME plan by improving state efforts to increase access to affordable housing options, which is a dire need across California. Ultimately, additional housing support improves reentry outcomes and also plays a significant role in public safety. SB 240 is pending referral to a legislative policy committee in the Senate.
SB 564 (Laird) – Sheriffs and marshals: fees.
This measure would increase the fees sheriffs may collect for serving civil process. CSAC supports SB 564 as it would modestly increase and conform various fees that sheriff’s offices are permitted to collect to fulfill their legal obligation and closer match the costs of providing services. This bill also preserves the existing fee waiver process for individuals that cannot afford the fee, ensuring that everyone in need can apply for relief and access critical sheriff services. SB 564 passed out of the Assembly Judiciary Committee and is waiting to be heard on the Assembly Floor.
Oppose
AB 702 (Jackson) – Local government financing: juvenile justice.
This measure would revise and recast components of the Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act (JJCPA), including requiring funded programs to be modeled on trauma-informed and youth development approaches in collaboration with community-based organizations (CBOs), requiring that no less than 95% of funds are allocated to CBOs and non-law enforcement government entities, and changing the membership provisions of county juvenile justice coordinating councils. CSAC, along with the Urban Counties of California (UCC) and the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) opposed AB 702, as it would redirect a stable, constitutionally protected funding structure from counties. This is also at a time when counties are working diligently toward full implementation of SB 823, which has shifted the state’s responsibility for the care and custody of system-involved youth to county probation. AB 702 is now a 2-year bill. CSAC, UCC, and RCRC will continue to work on this bill next year.
Additional bills of interest:
The Administration of Justice policy unit is closely monitoring other bills, including but not limited to the following:
AB 280 (Holden) – Segregated confinement.
This measure limits the use of segregated confinement in every jail, prison, public or privately owned detention facility and a facility in which individuals are subject to confinement or involuntary detentions and requires specified facilities in the state in which individuals are subject to confinement or involuntary detention to follow specified procedures related to segregated confinement. AB 280 is waiting to be heard in the Senate.
AB 505 (Ting) – The Office of Youth and Community Restoration.
This measure transfers all authority, responsibilities, and duties regarding juvenile justice from the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) to the Office of Youth and Community Restoration (OYCR), increases oversight of juvenile facility construction plans, and substantially expands the authority of the OYCR Ombudsperson to inspect juvenile justice facilities and investigate youth complaints without prior notice to counties. AB 505 is waiting to be heard in the Senate.
AB 742 (Jackson) – Law enforcement: police canines.
This measure prohibits the use of canines by peace officers for arrest and apprehension unless necessary to
defend against an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury but permits the use of canines for search and rescue, explosives detection, and narcotics detection. The author decided to make this a 2-year bill.
AB 958 (Santiago) – Prisons: visitation.
This measure would establish that the right to personal visits for incarcerated persons by an intimate partner or a family member is a civil right. The bill would provide that these civil rights may not be infringed, except as necessary, and only if narrowly tailored to further a compelling security interest of the government and would provide that any governmental action related to these civil rights may be reviewed in court for legal or factual error. AB 958 is waiting to be heard in the Senate.
AB 974 (McKinnor) – Incarcerated persons: certified record of live birth.
This measure would require the local registrar, county recorder, or State Registrar to issue, without a fee, a certified record of live birth to any person who demonstrates that they are currently incarcerated in prison or a county correctional facility. The measure would also authorize the incarcerated person, or any person who is lawfully entitled to request that record on behalf of an incarcerated person, to make that request. This bill was held on the Assembly Appropriations Suspense File.
AB 1547 (McKinnor) – Childhood sexual assault: statute of limitations.
This bill would add an additional year, until December 31, 2024, to the statute of limitations on civil claims of childhood sexual assault for victims who were assaulted by an employee of a juvenile probation camp or detention facility owned and operated by a county, or an employee of a youth facility owned and operated by the Division of Juvenile Justice, if the action would otherwise be barred solely because the applicable statute of limitations has expired. The measure would permit a cause of action to proceed if it is already pending in court on January 1, 2024, or, if not filed by that date, would commence between January 1 and December 31, 2024. This bill was held on the Assembly Appropriations Suspense File.
