BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1890|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1890
Author: Rod Pacheco (R) and Reyes (D)
Amended: 5/26/00 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/13/00
AYES: Vasconcellos, Johnston, McPherson, Rainey
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 13-0, 8/23/00
AYES: Johnston, Alpert, Bowen, Burton, Escutia, Johnson,
Karnette, Kelley, Leslie, McPherson, Mountjoy, Perata,
Vasconcellos
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 5/31/00 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Inmates working outside prison grounds
mandatory
"distinctive clothing"
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the Department of Corrections
shall require prisoners who are working outside the prison
grounds in road cleanup crews or fire crews wear
distinctive clothing for identification purposes, as
specified.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides that the CDC shall
require of every able-bodied prisoner imprisoned in any
state prison as many hours of faithful labor in each day
and every day during his or her term of imprisonment as
CONTINUED
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shall be prescribed by the rules and regulations of the CDC
Director. (Penal Code 2700.)
Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to
employ, or cause to employ, prisoners confined in the state
prisons in the improvement and maintenance of any state
highway. (Penal Code 2760.)
Existing law authorizes any department, division, bureau,
or other agency of the State of California to use convicts
confined in the state prisons to perform work necessary and
proper to be done by them at permanent, temporary, and
mobile camps. (Penal Code 2780.)
Existing law establishes the Prison Industry Authority for
the purpose of developing and operating industrial,
agricultural, and service enterprises employing prisoners
in institutions under the jurisdiction of CDC. (Penal Code
2800 and 2801.)
Existing law establishes within the CDC a joint-venture
program allowing private businesses to establish
manufacturing and service enterprises on prison property
employing inmates confined in the state prison. (Penal
Code 2117.2.)
Existing law creates the California Conservation Camp
program that provides for the training and use of the
inmates and wards assigned to conservation camps in the
furtherance of public conservation. (Public Resource Code
4951 et seq.)
Existing law establishes, under Director of Corrections,
the Sierra Conservation Center, the North Coast
Conservation Center and the Southern Conservation Center,
referred collectively as the "conservation centers."
(Penal Code 6200-6208.)
Existing law provides that work of inmates assigned to the
conservation centers may be performed at the conservation
centers or branches thereof or in or from permanent,
temporary, and mobile camps. (Penal Code 6202.)
Existing law authorizes the director to enter into
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contracts or cooperative agreements with any public agency,
local, state or federal, for the performance of other
conservation projects which are appropriate for the public
agencies under policies established by the Prison Industry
Authority. (Penal Code 6202.)
Existing law provides that inmates and wards may be
assigned to perform public conservation projects,
including, but not limited to, forest fire prevention and
control, forest and watershed management, recreational area
development, fish and game management, soil conservation,
and forest watershed revegetation. (Penal Code 6202.)
Existing law provides that any department, division,
bureau, commission or other agency of the State of
California or the Federal Government may use or cause to be
used convicts confined in the state prisons to perform work
necessary and proper to be done by them at permanent,
temporary, and mobile camps, as specified. (Penal Code
2780-2792.)
This bill requires that the Department of Corrections shall
require prisoners who are working outside the prison
grounds in road cleanup crews or fire crews to wear
distinctive clothing for identification purposes, as
specified.
The Assembly Committee on Public Safety analysis of this
bill contains the following additional background:
In March 2000, an inmate at the California Rehabilitation
Center at Norco, California, walked away from a fire crew
that was clearing brush at the California Citrus State
Historic Park. The inmate later kidnapped a 16-year-old
female and forced her to drive him to Bakersfield.
According to a Press-Enterprise Newspaper article dated
March 25, 2000, a California Department of Forestry (CDF)
fire captain was supervising the 18-member crew when the
inmate walked away. The inmate and other crew members were
wearing prison-issued denim shirts and pants.
The newspaper further reported that when inmates are
working with city crews in Norco, they are required to wear
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bright lime-green jump suits. Inmates who work with fire
crews are required to wear bright-orange jump suits when
they are on actual fire lines, but they are allowed to wear
their prison-issue denim shirt and pants when they perform
other duties. This bill requires that work and fire crews
wear distinctive clothing, and that adequate security be
provided to prevent escape.
Security at CDF Fire Camps
The CDC camp program is operated by the CDF. Inmates are
housed in dormitories in various camps throughout the
state. Those inmates in the firefighter program are
virtually all classified as Level 1, which is the lowest
level of security risk. During the non-fire season,
firefighter inmates perform community service projects such
as cleaning parks and re-roofing buildings. Correctional
officers are assigned to each camp, and there are two
correctional officers on duty each shift. Work details and
fire-lines are supervised by CDF personnel, who are trained
by the CDC to prevent "walkaways". CDF captains are
required to conduct inmate counts every half-hour.
According to CDC, there are approximately 4,000 inmates
assigned to camps. The cost of using correctional officers
to provide security on work details and fire-lines could be
enormous.
CDF captains are required to conduct inmate counts every
half-hour. Generally walkaways-or "escapes"-are not a
serious problem because (a) the inmates are low level
security risks with minimal time left to serve; and (b)
most of the time the crews are working in remote areas
where there is nowhere to go and few immediate temptations
to stray. There were 15 walkaways in 1999.
CDC Training Centers and Camps
There are two conservation centers, the California
Correctional Center (CCC) in Lassen County and the Sierra
Conservation Center (SCC) in Tuolomne County, and 38
conservation camps located throughout the state. The CDC
jointly operates 33 conservation camps with the California
Department of Forestry (CDF), and an additional 5 with the
Los Angeles County Fire Department. Only minimum security
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inmates are considered for the camp program. The total
design bed capacity for the 38 camps is 3,908 inmates and
182 authorized fire crews.
Of the three centers mentioned in statute, only the Sierra
Center actually exists. The CCC and the SCC are training
centers where inmates are medically cleared and reviewed by
classification committee staff. The inmates undergo
physical fitness preparation by CDC staff and after meeting
CDC standards, graduate to the CDF training. After 62
hours of CDF training and meeting CDF standards, the
inmates then move to one of the 38 conservation camps.
The camps mission is "to provide the cooperative agencies
with an able-bodied, trained work force for fire
suppression and other emergencies such as floods and
earthquakes. In addition, fire crews work on conservation
projects on public lands and provide labor on local
community services projects."
During the 1980's prison construction boom in California,
many of the conservation camps were built. Apparently,
none have been built in the 1990's.
Effect of This Bill
This bill applies the new statutory mandate for
distinctive clothing to inmates who are working outside
the prison grounds in road cleanup crews pursuant to
Article 4 (commencing with section 2760) or fire crews
pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with section 2780) to
wear distinctive clothing for identification purposes.
It does appear that inmates may be assigned to work off
prison property in other circumstances. However, any
expansion of this bill beyond the two circumstances
delineated would also entail additional costs. For
example, the Assembly Appropriations Committee analysis
projected that the cost for distinctive uniforms for each
of the 4,000 current conservation camp inmates-procured
or purchased by the CDC-would be $25 apiece, with a cost
of $225,000 for 9,000 units.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2000-01 2001-02
2002-03 Fund
Prisoner clothing Unknown costs, potentially $479 annually
General
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/24/00)
California State Sheriffs Association
Riverside County Sheriff
Sacramento County Sheriff
California Narcotic Officers Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office:
Recently, an inmate from the California Rehabilitation
Center, a medium-security facility in Norco, walked away
from a fire crew while assigned to clear away brush at
the California Citrus State Historic Park. The prisoner
later kidnapped a 16-year-old Riverside girl at gunpoint
and forced her to drive to Bakersfield where she finally
escaped.
It is the practice of the CDC to use prisoners to work on
fire crews. These crews are used throughout local
communities and are not staffed by correctional officers
nor armed custody staff. Additionally, prisoners on fire
crews are not required to wear distinctive clothing,
which serves to warn the public they are prisoners.
AB 1890 will require the CDC to provide all prisoners with
distinctive clothing while working off prison grounds.
This measure will assure protection of the public by
ensuring the identification of work crew prisoners.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Aanestad, Ackerman, Alquist, Aroner, Ashburn, Bates,
Battin, Bock, Brewer, Briggs, Calderon, Campbell,
Cardenas, Cardoza, Cedillo, Corbett, Correa, Cox,
Cunneen, Davis, Dickerson, Ducheny, Dutra, Firebaugh,
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Florez, Frusetta, Gallegos, Granlund, Havice, Honda,
House, Jackson, Kaloogian, Keeley, Knox, Kuehl, Leach,
Lempert, Leonard, Longville, Lowenthal, Machado, Maddox,
Maldonado, Margett, Mazzoni, McClintock, Migden, Nakano,
Olberg, Oller, Robert Pacheco, Rod Pacheco, Papan,
Pescetti, Reyes, Romero, Runner, Scott, Shelley,
Steinberg, Strickland, Strom-Martin, Thompson, Torlakson,
Villaraigosa, Vincent, Washington, Wayne, Wiggins,
Wildman, Wright, Zettel, Hertzberg
RJG:jk 8/26/00 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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