BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1176
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 24, 2007
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Mervyn Dymally, Chair
AB 1176 (Spitzer) - As Amended: April 10, 2007
SUBJECT : Sexually violent predators: petitions for release and
discharge.
SUMMARY : Requires that all petitions for conditional release
and unconditional discharge of "sexually violent predators"
(SVPs) be transferred to the Superior Court (court) of the
county of the SVPs domicile. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires, when an SVP files a petition for conditional release
or unconditional discharge (petition) in the court of the
county of the SVP's commitment, and the county of domicile has
not been previously determined, the court to first determine
the SVP's county of domicile before hearing the merits of the
petition.
2)Requires the court to proceed to hear the merits of the SVP's
petition if the court determines that the county of the SVP's
commitment is also the SVP's county of domicile.
3)Requires the court to suspend the petition and transfer the
petition, to the court of the SVP's county domicile if the
court finds that the county of the SVPs commitment is
different from the SVPs county of domicile.
4)Requires the court transferring the petition to serve a copy
of the petition on a designated attorney in the county of
domicile within five days of the date of the transfer.
5)Permits the court of the SVP's county of domicile to elect to
hear the petition. States that if the court of the county of
the SVP's domicile elects not to hear the petition, the court
must do both of the following:
a) Return the petition to the court of the SVP's county of
commitment with an explanation that it has decided not to
hear the petition; and,
b) Within five days of electing not to hear the petition,
notify the attorney designated by the county of commitment
and the State Department of Mental Health (DMH) of the
decision not to hear the petition.
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6)Requires the court of the SVP's county of commitment to resume
proceedings on the petition if the court of the SVP's county
of domicile elects not to hear the petition.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes DMH, which directs and coordinates statewide
efforts for the treatment of mental disabilities.
2)Defines an "SVP" as a person who has been convicted of a
sexually violent offense against one or more victims, and who
has a diagnosed mental disorder that makes the person a danger
to the health and safety of others in that it is likely that
he or she will engage in sexually violent criminal behavior.
3)Defines "county of domicile" as the county where the person
has his or her true, fixed, and permanent home and principal
residence and to which he or she has manifested the intention
of returning whenever he or she is absent. Allows, for the
purposes of determining the county of domicile, the court to
consider information found on a California driver's license,
California identification card, recent rent or utility
receipt, printed personalized checks or other recent banking
documents showing that person's name and address, or
information contained in an arrest record, probation officer's
report, trial transcript, or other court document. Requires,
if no information can be identified or verified, the county of
domicile of the individual to be the county in which the
person was arrested for the crime for which he or she was last
incarcerated in the state prison or from which he or she was
last returned from parole.
4)Requires SVPs who are conditionally released to be placed in
his or her county of domicile prior to incarceration, unless
the court finds that extraordinary circumstances require
placement outside the county of domicile.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL : According to the author, this bill
allows communities who are most affected by the release of an
SVP to have a say in the placement of these individuals.
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2)BACKGROUND . The SVP Act, enacted in 1996, established a new
category of civil commitment for sex offenders who are found
to pose extreme danger to society upon their release from
prison. These sex offender inmates have diagnosable mental
disorders, which are identified when the inmate is
incarcerated. Once deemed an SVP in a civil proceeding by a
court, the sex offender is confined to a state mental hospital
operated by DMH for treatment at the end of their prison term.
The purpose of this confinement is for treatment until the
threat they pose to the health and safety of others is
diminished. The treatment program for SVPs has five phases;
four are in-patient while the SVP is confined to the state
mental hospital. The fifth phase is an out-patient phase of
conditional release, where the SVP is placed back in the
community and supervised by the designated Conditional Release
Program. The four in-patient phases have taken existing SVPs
a minimum of four years to complete; the conditional release
phase is one year with annual renewals determined by the
court. As of December 1, 2004, there were 490 persons found
to be SVPs and committed for confinement and treatment in a
secure facility designated by the Director of DMH. There were
194 individuals awaiting trial.
3)HIGH RISK SEX OFFENDER AND SVP TASK FORCE . In 2005, the
Governor created the High Risk Sex Offender and SVP Task Force
(task force) to develop recommendations for a statewide system
to improve state and local policies related to notification,
placement, monitoring and supervision of SVPs. The task force
included representatives from law enforcement agencies, state
agencies, victims groups, and two Assemblymembers. The task
force made various recommendations, including the provisions
included in this bill.
4)PROPOSITION 83 . In 2007, voters passed Proposition 83 or
Jessica's Law which does the following: a) increases the
penalties for violent and habitual sex offenders and child
molesters; b) prohibits registered sex offenders from residing
within 2,000 feet of any school or park; c) requires lifetime
Global Positioning System monitoring of felony registered sex
offenders; d) expands the definition of an SVP; and, e)
changes current two-year involuntary civil commitment for an
SVP to an indeterminate commitment, subject to annual review
by the director of DMH and subsequent ability of SVP to
petition court for an SVPs conditional release or
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unconditional discharge.
5)SUPPORT . The League of California Cities states this bill
allows communities who are most affected by the release of an
SVP to have a say in the placement of SVPs.
6)RELATED LEGISLATION .
a) AB 370 (Adams) allows a city or county to adopt an
ordinance prohibiting sex offenders released on parole from
residing with any other person on parole in a single-family
dwelling and includes residential facilities that serve six
or fewer persons in the definition of a "single-family
dwelling". AB 370 is pending in the Assembly Committee on
Human Services.
b) AB 1348 (Spitzer) prohibits an SVP from being placed on
conditional release unless the person has completed all
phases of the treatment program, as specified. AB 1348 is
pending in the Assembly Committee on Public Safety.
7)DOUBLE-REFERRAL : This bill passed out on a 7-0 vote when it
was heard in the Assembly Committee on Public Safety on April
17, 2007.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California State Association of Counties
League of California Cities
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Rosielyn Pulmano / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097