Bill Text: CA SB265 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Parole: violators.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-01 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB265 Detail]
Download: California-2009-SB265-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 265 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Runner
FEBRUARY 24, 2009
An act to add Sections 3060.3 and 5072 to the Penal Code, relating
to parole, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 265, as introduced, Runner. Parole: violators.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation to return a parolee to prison upon revocation of the
parolee's parole, as specified.
This bill would require the department to require a parolee to
serve a period of revocation on GPS-monitored house arrest in lieu of
being returned to prison, if certain conditions are met, as
specified. This bill would also make it a felony for a parolee to
willfully depart, without authorization, from the designated
residence, as specified.
Because this bill would create a new crime, it would impose a
state-mandated local program.
This bill would also create the Parolee Reentry Fund for the
purpose of funding contracts for parolee mentoring and workforce
preparation programs to be awarded by the Secretary of the Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The bill would appropriate
$20,000,000 from the General Fund to this fund annually for these
purposes.
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 no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Parolee
Mentoring and Monitoring Act of 2009.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares:
(a) California is the only state in the nation that annually
commits more offenders to state prison following parole violation
than following a substantive felony conviction in court.
(b) Use of limited prison cells for short-term incarceration of
three to six months is a costly process that strains our correctional
system.
(c) Both the public and certain nonviolent offenders may be better
served with a system that includes greater use of house arrests
monitored by a global positioning system (GPS) and fewer returns to
prison.
(d) Savings achieved by implementing a monitored house arrest
option can be dedicated in part to a more comprehensive and publicly
accountable system of parole mentoring and training programs designed
to reduce recidivism.
(e) It is the intent of the Legislature that the state
correctional system focus greater emphasis and resources on the
successful reintegration of parolees into our communities and the
Legislature accordingly enacts the Parolee Mentoring and Monitoring
Act of 2009.
SEC. 3. Section 3060.3 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
3060.3. (a) The Board of Parole Hearings, or a presiding deputy
commissioner, upon finding that a person has violated parole, shall
require that person to serve a period of revocation on GPS-monitored
house arrest in lieu of imprisonment in the state prison if all of
the following apply:
(1) The parolee has not violated parole for a felony offense for
which he or she is awaiting prosecution.
(2) The parolee has never been convicted of a violent felony, a
felony violation of Section 186.22, or a sex offense listed in
Section 290.
(3) The parolee has been evaluated by the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation using COMPAS or another standardized
risk assessment tool and has not been found to be violent or of high
risk to public safety.
(4) The maximum period of revocation is no greater than 10 months.
(5) The parolee serves the term of revocation in an appropriate
residential property, as determined by the board, which is not
occupied by any other person on parole.
(6) The parolee agrees not to leave the premises except for
medical or natural emergencies, or as expressly permitted for
employment or drug treatment, and shall at all times wear a GPS or
other monitoring device.
(7) The parolee posts a cash or surety bond of not less that ten
thousand dollars ($10,000), which shall be forfeited in the event he
or she leaves his or her residence without the express consent of his
or her parole agent or in response to a verifiable medical or other
emergency. The forfeiture of cash or the surety bond, as described in
this paragraph, and the relief from such forfeiture shall be
governed by the terms of Article 7 (commencing with Section 1305) of
Chapter 1 of Title 10 of Part 2.
(8) The parolee is prohibited from earning more than one-half the
credits he or she could earn were he or she returned to prison.
(9) The parolee abides by all additional conditions of parole.
(b) A parolee on house arrest pursuant to subdivision (a) may be
immediately returned to the custody of the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation for the remainder of his or her period of
revocation in the event the parolee violates any condition of parole
or GPS-monitored house arrest or if the monitoring device ceases to
function for any reason.
(c) The GPS monitoring system or other equipment necessary to
monitor parolees pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be procured
through a competitive request for proposals (RFP) process, which
shall evaluate factors including cost effectiveness and reliability
of available products.
(d) Willful unauthorized departure by the parolee from the
designated residence, except as required as a result of a verifiable
medical or other emergency, even temporarily, is flight from custody,
a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 16
months, or two or three years.
(e) The parolee shall be deemed to have been returned to custody
for purposes of paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 3000
during the period he or she is on GPS-monitored house arrest.
SEC. 4. Section 5072 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
5072. (a) There is hereby established in the State Treasury the
Parolee Reentry Fund for the purpose of funding contracts for parolee
mentoring and workforce preparation programs to be awarded by the
Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Recipients shall be required to have extensive expertise in
designing, managing, monitoring, and evaluating mentoring, workforce,
and comprehensive programs specific to parolees, including
demonstrated evidence of an effective prisoner reentry program model.
For purposes of awarding contracts, contract recipients shall be
required to have extensive related experience working with federal,
state, or local government agencies.
(b) The purpose of these programs is to target critical funding to
assist and prepare offenders for return to their communities in an
effort to reduce recidivism rates and the high costs and threat to
public safety associated with the prevalent cycle of incarceration,
release, and return to prison. The programs are also intended to
provide support, opportunities, mentoring, education, and training to
offenders on parole. The parameters of the programs shall be as
follows:
(1) The programs shall focus on helping parolees make and sustain
long-term attachments to the workforce.
(2) The programs shall offer parolees critical support services
and referral for housing, addiction, and other services through a
case management component. The program will also offer opportunities
for positive social support through a mentoring component.
(3) The secretary may authorize programs that employ daily
check-in facilities, Global Positioning System (GPS) devices,
voiceprints, or other technologies to monitor the daily activities of
parolee participants, especially those who are not actively employed
or participating in classes.
(c) The sum of twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) is hereby
appropriated from the General Fund to the Parolee Reentry Fund for
the 2009-10 fiscal year and annually thereafter.
SEC. 5. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because 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.
