BILL NUMBER: AB 73	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  215
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  OCTOBER 11, 2009
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  OCTOBER 11, 2009
	PASSED THE SENATE  SEPTEMBER 1, 2009
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 3, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 8, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 11, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 12, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  FEBRUARY 26, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Hayashi
   (Coauthors: Senators Corbett, Hancock, Leno, and Wiggins)

                        DECEMBER 15, 2008

   An act to amend, repeal, and add Section 26840.10 of the
Government Code, to amend Sections 103627 and 103627.5 of the Health
and Safety Code, and to amend Section 18309 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, relating to domestic violence.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 73, Hayashi. Marriage licenses: vital records: fees: domestic
violence.
   Existing law requires the collection of fees for issuing marriage
licenses and for providing certified copies of vital records,
including marriage certificates, birth certificates, fetal death
records, and death records. Existing law provides for the
establishment of county domestic violence program special funds for
the purpose of funding local domestic violence programs. Certain fees
payable at the time a marriage license or a certified copy of any of
the above vital records is issued may be collected by the county
clerks for deposit into these funds.
   Existing law authorizes the Alameda County Board of Supervisors,
until January 1, 2010, upon making certain findings and declarations,
to authorize an increase in the fees for marriage licenses and
confidential marriage licenses, up to a maximum increase of $2.
Existing law authorizes the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, and
the City Council of the City of Berkeley, upon making certain
findings and declarations, to authorize an increase in the fees for
certified copies of certain vital records, up to a maximum increase
of $2. Existing law authorizes those governmental entities to make
further increases in those fees each year, as specified. Existing law
requires these fees to be allocated for purposes relating to
domestic violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution.
   This bill would extend the operation of those provisions
indefinitely.
   Existing law requires the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and
the City Council of the City of Berkeley to submit to the Assembly
and Senate Committees on Judiciary, by July 1, 2009, reports
regarding the above fee increases, as specified.
   This bill would, instead, require the Alameda County Board of
Supervisors and the City Council of the City of Berkeley, if they
elect to increase fees pursuant to the above-described provisions, to
submit preliminary reports by July 1, 2009, and final reports by
July 1, 2014. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1,
2015.
   The bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive related
changes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) According to the 2005 California Women's Health Survey, in
California, 9.2 percent of women live in homes where domestic abuse
occurs. According to the Department of Justice, in 2006, Alameda
County law enforcement responded to 7,331 calls relating to domestic
violence. Domestic violence is ubiquitous and cuts across all
economic and education levels and all age groups, ethnicities, and
other social and community characteristics.
   (b) According to 2006 statistics from the federal Bureau of
Justice Statistics, in nearly half of violent crimes where the victim
and the aggressor are related, the aggressor is either the spouse or
ex-spouse of the victim. Marriage license fees collected pursuant to
this act would help communities intervene and prevent domestic
violence when the aggressor is the spouse or ex-spouse of the victim.

   (c) According to the National Woman Abuse Prevention Project in
Washington, D.C., domestic violence puts children at risk. Children
born into families where domestic violence occurs are physically
abused or seriously neglected at a rate that is significantly higher
than the national average in the general population. Birth
certificate fees collected pursuant to this act would help
communities with the cost of ensuring that children who are born into
families with domestic violence receive the help they need.
   (d) Studies show more than 10 percent of women are victims of
domestic violence during pregnancy. According to a January 2009 study
published in The Lancet (a British medical journal), pregnant women
who are assaulted by their spouses are 50 percent more likely to
experience fetal loss, often repeatedly, than women who are not
abused during pregnancy. Women who are battered during pregnancy are
also more likely to die or have children who are born prematurely
with low birth weights and intense medical needs. Fetal death
certificate fees would help communities with what it costs to ensure
that pregnant women with violent spouses receive help, protection,
and care for their unborn children and infants.
   (e) Domestic violence is a learned behavior and generational.
Studies show that boys who witness family violence are 100 times more
likely to batter their female partners and girls who witness their
mother's abuse are more likely to be battered as adults.
   (f) Domestic violence costs are high because, not only is there a
toll on families emotionally and financially, but there are also
direct and hidden costs to society. The most direct costs are the
high costs of law enforcement, civil and criminal justice, and health
services and other community-based services. Less direct and visible
costs include job turnover, loss of productivity, school
absenteeism, and low performance in school.
   (g) Domestic violence requires multifaceted intervention that
encourages civil, criminal, health, and social service sectors to
work together to align the objectives, protocols, policies, and
activities of each sector. Alameda County has determined that
achieving the alignment, which requires governmental oversight and
coordination of multiple agencies involved in domestic violence
matters, is an essential link in the comprehensive effort to
eliminate domestic violence.
   (h) Since 2005, the Alameda County Family Justice Center (ACFJC),
which is funded in part by vital records fees, has achieved the
alignment described in subdivision (g) with more than 65 domestic
violence providers, many of which provide services at one common
location. The services provided by the ACFJC include legal
assistance, counseling and medical services, and crisis intervention.
The ACFJC has been an essential link for more than 20,000 domestic
violence victims and has quickly connected the victims to services
when they need it most. Alameda County victims are now increasingly
seeking help from law enforcement and shelters before domestic
violence escalates to death. Between 2002 and 2007, Alameda County
has seen a 70-percent decrease in domestic violence homicides.
   (i) Since the ACFJC's opening, victims are feeling more emboldened
to work with prosecutors. The Alameda County District Attorney's
office reports 20 percent more victims are willing or able to pursue
charges against aggressors and 24 percent fewer domestic violence
cases are dismissed, which gives victims a renewed faith and
confidence that the justice system works. The number of domestic
violence cases being charged as felonies in Alameda County has nearly
doubled from 13 percent to 23 percent, illustrating an increase in
the quality and depth of law enforcement investigations enabled by
the coordination.
  SEC. 2.  Section 26840.10 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   26840.10.  (a) The Alameda County Board of Supervisors, upon
making findings and declarations on the need for governmental
oversight and coordination of the multiple agencies dealing with
domestic violence, may authorize an increase in the fees for marriage
licenses and confidential marriage licenses, up to a maximum
increase of two dollars ($2).
   (b) Effective July 1 of each year, the Alameda County Board of
Supervisors may authorize an increase in these fees by an amount
equal to the increase in the Consumer Price Index for the San
Francisco metropolitan area for the preceding calendar year, rounded
to the nearest half-dollar ($0.50). The fees shall be allocated
pursuant to Section 18309 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
   (c) In addition to the fee prescribed by Section 26840.1, in
Alameda County, the person issuing authorization for the performance
of a marriage or confidential marriage, or the county clerk upon
providing a blank authorization form pursuant to Part 4 (commencing
with Section 500) of Division 3 of the Family Code, shall collect the
fees specified in subdivisions (a) and (b), at the time of providing
the authorization.
   (d) If it elects to increase fees pursuant to this section, the
Alameda County Board of Supervisors shall submit to the Assembly and
Senate Committees on Judiciary a preliminary report no later than
July 1, 2009, and a final report no later than July 1, 2014. Both
reports shall contain the following information:
   (1) The annual amounts of funds received and expended from fee
increases for the purpose of governmental oversight and coordination
of domestic violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution
efforts in the county.
   (2) Outcomes achieved as a result of the activities associated
with the implementation of this section.
   (e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2015, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2015, deletes or extends
that date.
  SEC. 3.  Section 26840.10 is added to the Government Code, to read:

   26840.10.  (a) The Alameda County Board of Supervisors, upon
making findings and declarations for the need for governmental
oversight and coordination of the multiple agencies dealing with
domestic violence, may authorize an increase in the fees for marriage
licenses and confidential marriage licenses, up to a maximum
increase of two dollars ($2).
   (b) Effective July 1 of each year, the Alameda County Board of
Supervisors may authorize an increase in these fees by an amount
equal to the increase in the Consumer Price Index for the San
Francisco metropolitan area for the preceding calendar year, rounded
to the nearest half-dollar ($0.50). The fees shall be allocated
pursuant to Section 18309 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
   (c) In addition to the fee prescribed by Section 26840.1, in
Alameda County, the person issuing authorization for the performance
of a marriage or confidential marriage, or the county clerk upon
providing a blank authorization form pursuant to Part 4 (commencing
with Section 500) of Division 3 of the Family Code, shall collect the
fees specified in subdivisions (a) and (b), at the time of providing
the authorization.
   (d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2015.
  SEC. 4.  Section 103627 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
   103627.  (a) (1) The Alameda County Board of Supervisors, upon
making findings and declarations supporting the need for governmental
oversight and coordination of the multiple agencies dealing with
domestic violence, may authorize an increase in the fees for
certified copies of marriage certificates, birth certificates, fetal
death records, and death records, up to a maximum increase of two
dollars ($2).
   (2) The City Council of the City of Berkeley, upon making findings
and declarations supporting the need for governmental oversight and
coordination of the multiple agencies dealing with domestic violence,
may authorize an increase in the fees for certified copies of birth
certificates, fetal death records, and death records, up to a maximum
increase of two dollars ($2).
   (b) Effective July 1 of each year, the Alameda County Board of
Supervisors and the City Council of the City of Berkeley may
authorize an increase in these fees by an amount equal to the
increase in the Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco
metropolitan area for the preceding calendar year, rounded to the
nearest half-dollar ($0.50). The fees shall be disposed of pursuant
to the provisions of Section 18309 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code.
   (c) In addition to the fees prescribed by subdivisions (a) and
(b), any applicant for a certified copy of a birth certificate, a
fetal death record, or death record in Alameda County or in the City
of Berkeley shall pay an additional fee to the local registrar,
county recorder, or county clerk, as applicable, as established by
the Alameda County Board of Supervisors or the City Council of the
City of Berkeley.
  SEC. 5.  Section 103627.5 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
   103627.5.  (a) If it elects to increase fees pursuant to Section
103627, the City Council of the City of Berkeley shall submit to the
Assembly and Senate Committees on Judiciary a preliminary report no
later than July 1, 2009, and a final report no later than July 1,
2014. Both reports shall contain the following information:
   (1) The annual amount of funds received and expended from fee
increases for the purpose of governmental oversight and coordination
of domestic violence prevention, intervention, and prosecution
efforts in the city.
   (2) Outcomes achieved as a result of the activities associated
with the implementation of Section 103627.
   (b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2015, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2015, deletes or extends
that date.
  SEC. 6.  Section 18309 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   18309.  (a)  The Alameda County Board of Supervisors shall direct
the local registrar, county recorder, and county clerk to deposit
fees collected pursuant to Section 26840.10 of the Government Code
and Section 103627 of the Health and Safety Code into a special fund.
The county may retain up to 4 percent of the fund for administrative
costs associated with the collection and segregation of the
additional fees and the deposit of these fees into the special fund.
Proceeds from the fund shall be used for governmental oversight and
coordination of domestic violence and family violence prevention,
intervention, and prosecution efforts among the court system, the
district attorney's office, the public defender's office, law
enforcement, the probation department, mental health, substance
abuse, child welfare services, adult protective services, and
community-based organizations and other agencies working in Alameda
County in order to increase the effectiveness of prevention, early
intervention, and prosecution of domestic and family violence.
   (b) The City Council of the City of Berkeley shall direct the
local registrar to deposit fees collected pursuant to Section 103627
of the Health and Safety Code into a special fund. The city may
retain up to 4 percent of the fund for administrative costs
associated with the collection and segregation of the additional fees
and the deposit of these fees into the special fund. Proceeds from
the fund shall be used for governmental oversight and coordination of
domestic violence and family violence prevention and intervention
efforts, including law enforcement, mental health, public health,
substance abuse, victim advocacy, community education, and housing,
in order to increase the effectiveness of prevention, early
intervention, and prosecution of domestic and family violence.