BILL NUMBER: SB 473 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 28, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Bates
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to amend Section 1796.19 of the Health and Safety
Code, relating to public health. add Section 369 to
the Penal Code, relating to elder abuse.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 473, as amended, Bates. Home care services.
Elder abuse: registry.
Existing law, the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection
Act, establishes various procedures for the reporting,
investigation, and prosecution of elder and dependent adult abuse,
and provides that the purpose of the act is to, among other things,
collect information on the number of abuse victims, circumstances
surrounding the abuse, and other data. The act defines the term
"abuse of an elder or a dependent adult" for its purposes.
Existing law also makes it a crime for a person who knows or
reasonably should know that a person is an elder or dependent adult
to willfully cause or permit the person or health of the elder or
dependent adult to be injured, or willfully cause or permit the elder
or dependent adult to be placed in a situation in which his or her
person or health is endangered. Existing law specifies penalties for
a person who violates any law proscribing theft, embezzlement,
forgery, or fraud, or specified identity theft laws, when the victim
is an elder or a dependent adult.
This bill would require a person who is convicted for a crime
involving the abuse of an elder adult, as defined in the Elder Abuse
and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, to register for the
remainder of his or her life with all police departments and the
sheriff in the county in which the person was convicted and in the
county in which he or she resides. The bill would require the police
department or county sheriff to forward the registration information
to the Department of Justice. The bill would require the Department
of Justice to maintain a publicly accessible Internet Web site
containing certain information concerning persons who are required to
register pursuant to these provisions. The bill would make it a
crime to use information obtained from the Internet Web site to
commit a crime, and would subject a person who uses information
obtained from the Internet Web site for any other reason than to
protect an at-risk person to civil liability, as specified. The bill
would relieve a person from the duty to register pursuant to these
provisions if he or she receives a certificate of rehabilitation and
he or she is not in custody, on parole, or on probation. The bill
would make it a misdemeanor for a person who is required to register
pursuant to these provisions to willfully violate any requirements
related to registration. By creating new crimes and imposing new
duties on local police departments and county sheriffs related to
registering individuals convicted of a crime involving the abuse of
an elder adult, this bill would impose a state-mandated local
program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no
reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that,
if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains
costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall
be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
The Home Care Services Consumer Protection Act, operative January
1, 2016, provides for the registration of home care aides. Existing
law requires the State Department of Social Services to consider
specified information when determining whether to approve a home care
aide's registration application, including, among other things,
evidence satisfactory to the department of the home care aide
applicant's ability to comply with the act and the rules and
regulations promulgated by the department under the act.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those
provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no
yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 369 is added to the
Penal Code , immediately following Section 368.5
, to read:
369. (a) (1) (A) Upon conviction for a crime involving abuse of
an elder adult, as defined in Section 15610.07 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, a person shall register for the remainder of his
or her life with all police departments and the sheriff in the county
in which the person was convicted and in the county in which he or
she resides.
(B) The court shall notify a person required to register pursuant
to this section of his or her duty to register at the time of his or
her conviction.
(2) (A) If a person described in paragraph (1) does not serve a
term of imprisonment as a result of his or her conviction, he or she
shall register within five business days of the conviction.
(B) If a person described in paragraph (1) serves a term of
imprisonment as a result of his or her conviction, he or she shall
register within five business days of his or her release.
(3) (A) A person required to register pursuant to this section
shall notify all police departments and the sheriff in the county in
which the person was convicted, in the county in which he or she
resides, and, if applicable, in which he or she previously resided
and was required to register within five business days of moving or
changing his or her name.
(B) A person required to register pursuant to this section shall
annually renew his or her registration within five business days of
his or her birthday.
(b) Upon receipt of a registration pursuant to this section, a
police department or county sheriff shall forward the registration
information to the Department of Justice.
(c) (1) The Department of Justice shall make available to the
public via an Internet Web site the information specified in
paragraph (2) concerning persons who are required to register
pursuant to this section. The department shall update the Internet
Web site on an ongoing basis with information received from police
departments and county sheriffs pursuant to this section. All
information identifying the victim by name, birth date, address, or
relationship to the registrant shall be excluded from the Internet
Web site. The Internet Web site shall be translated into languages
other than English, as determined by the department.
(2) The Department of Justice shall include all of the following
information, as to each person required to register pursuant to this
section, on the publicly accessible Internet Web site:
(A) The name and address of the registrant.
(B) The offense for which he or she is required to register,
including all of the following:
(i) The offense for which he or she was convicted.
(ii) Where the offense occurred, including, but not limited to,
the city and, if applicable, the name of the facility at which it
occurred.
(iii) The punishment imposed, including, but not limited to, if
applicable, his or her date of release from imprisonment for the
offense.
(3) (A) A person who uses information disclosed pursuant to this
subdivision to commit a misdemeanor shall be subject to, in addition
to any other penalty or fine imposed, a fine of not less than ten
thousand dollars ($10,000), and not more than fifty thousand dollars
($50,000).
(B) A person who uses information disclosed pursuant to this
subdivision to commit a felony shall be punished, in addition and
consecutive to any other punishment, by a five-year term of
imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.
(4) (A) A person may use information disclosed pursuant to this
subdivision only to protect a person at risk.
(B) The use of information disclosed pursuant to this subdivision
for any purpose other than that provided by subparagraph (A) shall
make the user liable for the actual damages, and any amount that may
be determined by a jury or a court sitting without a jury, not
exceeding three times the amount of actual damage, and not less than
two hundred fifty dollars ($250), and attorney's fees, exemplary
damages, and a civil penalty not exceeding twenty-five thousand
dollars ($25,000).
(d) (1) A person required to register pursuant to this section is
not relieved of the duty to register if the person's conviction is
dismissed pursuant to Section 1203.4.
(2) A person required to register pursuant to this section, upon
obtaining a certificate of rehabilitation under Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 4852.01) of Title 6 of Part 3, is relieved
of any further duty to register under this section if he or she is
not in custody, on parole, or on probation.
(e) A person who is required to register pursuant to this section
who willfully violates any requirement of this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not
exceeding one year.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution for certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency
or school district because, in that regard, this act creates a new
crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the
penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime
within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of
Title 2 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1. Section 1796.19 of the Health and
Safety Code is amended to read:
1796.19. (a) The department shall consider, but is not limited to
considering, all of the following when determining whether to
approve a registration application:
(1) Evidence satisfactory to the department of the home care aide
applicant's ability to comply with this chapter and the rules and
regulations promulgated under this chapter by the department.
(2) Evidence satisfactory to the department that the home care
aide applicant is of reputable and responsible character. The
evidence shall include, but is not limited to, a review of the
independent home care aide applicant's criminal offender record
information pursuant to Section 1522.
(3) Any revocation or other disciplinary action taken, or in the
process of being taken, related to the care of individuals against
the home care aide applicant.
(4) Any other information that may be required by the department
for the proper administration and enforcement of this chapter.
(b) Failure of the home care aide applicant to cooperate with the
department in the completion of the Home Care Aide application shall
result in the withdrawal of the registration application. "Failure to
cooperate" means that the information described in this chapter and
by any rules and regulations promulgated under this chapter has not
been provided, or has not been provided in the form requested by the
department, or both.