Bill Text: CA AB785 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Community sanctions: parole violators.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-02 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB785 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB785-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 785	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bass

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2009

   An act to add Section 3060.95 to the Penal Code, relating to
parole.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 785, as introduced, Bass. Community sanctions: parole
violators.
   Existing law provides for various sanctions to be imposed on
persons who violate parole, including reincarceration.
   This bill would state the Legislature's intent that community
sanctions be instituted for parole violators who present a lower risk
to public safety, as specified. The bill would require the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to implement a "parole
violation decisionmaking instrument" to provide guidelines for use by
parole agents and the Board of Parole Hearings to determine the most
appropriate sanctions for parole violators, as specified. The bill
would require the department to adopt regulations to implement these
provisions. The bill would provide that its provisions do not limit
the authority of counties to prosecute parolees who commit new
crimes.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
   (a) That the state's 33 prisons are operating at approximately 200
percent of capacity. Several thousand California inmates have been
transferred out of state to help relieve overcrowding.
   (b) That approximately 70,000 parole violators are sent back to
these overcrowded prisons each year. Approximately 20 percent of
these violators are returned to custody for a technical violation of
parole, not for the commission of a new crime, resulting in a stay of
usually four months or less, and these violators do not receive
reentry services to stop the cycle of reoffending.
   (c) Many reports and commissions have recommended the adoption of
an evidence-based risk assessment. These include, but are not limited
to, the following: the Rehabilitation Strike Team Report to the
Governor (12-07), which included a specific recommendation for using
a parole violation decisionmaking matrix; the California Expert Panel
Report (6-07) that recommended development of a parole sanctions
matrix including sanction guidelines for parole agents; and the
Little Hoover Commission Report (11-03) entitled "Back to the
Community: Safe and Sound Parole Policies" which recommended that the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation use structured
decisionmaking and alternative sanctions in responding to parole
violations.
   (d) That community sanctions should be instituted for parole
violators who represent a low risk to public safety based on the
nature of the parole violation, their criminal history, and the
outcome of risk assessments as authorized in Section 33 of Chapter
175 of the Statutes of 2007. Community sanctions include, but are not
limited to, community work crews, increased supervision, increased
drug testing, home detention, day reporting centers, and short-term
incarceration.
  SEC. 2.  Section 3060.95 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
   3060.95.  (a) No later than January 1, 2010, the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation shall begin statewide implementation
of a parole violation decisionmaking instrument designed to provide
guidelines for use by parole agents and the Board of Parole Hearings
to determine the most appropriate sanctions for parolees who violate
their conditions of parole.
   (b) For purposes of this section, a "parole violation
decisionmaking instrument" provides ranges of appropriate sanctions
for parole violators given relevant case factors, such as offense
history, risk of reoffending, risk of violence based on a validated
risk assessment tool, need for treatment services, the number and
type of current and prior parole violations, and other relevant
statutory requirements.
   (c) Parole agents and, when a violation of parole has been
referred to the board, the board, shall impose sanctions on parole
violators in accordance with the parole decisionmaking instrument.
   (d) The department shall adopt emergency regulations to implement
this section initially, and shall subsequently adopt permanent
regulations that make appropriate changes in policies and procedures
to reflect the intent of this section.
   (e) Subject to legislative appropriation, the department shall
ensure that sufficient bed or program capacity is available in the
community to assign parole violators to those sanctions designated in
the parole violation decisionmaking instrument.
   (f) Nothing in this section shall limit the authority of counties
to prosecute parolees who commit new crimes.