Bill Text: CA SB54 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Sex offenders: residency restriction: petition for relief.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-02-01 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB54 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB54-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 54 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 19, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 21, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Runner
DECEMBER 19, 2014
An act to amend Section 3003.5 of, and to add Section 3003.51 to,
the Penal Code, relating to sex offenders, and declaring the urgency
thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 54, as amended, Runner. Sex offenders: residency restriction:
petition for relief.
Existing law, as amended by Proposition 83 of the November 7,
2006, statewide general election, prohibits any person who is
required to register pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration Act
from residing within 2,000 feet of any public or private school, or
park where children regularly gather.
This bill would require that the 2,000-foot residency restriction
be measured by the shortest practical pedestrian or vehicle path. The
bill would limit the residency restriction to persons convicted of
specified offenses. The bill would permit a person who is subject to
the residency restriction to petition the superior court of the
county within which he or she resides for relief from the
requirement. The bill would provide that original jurisdiction for
the petition would lie with the appellate division of the superior
court in which the petition is filed. The bill would require the
petitioner to establish by clear and convincing
a preponderance of the evidence that there is a pervasive
lack of compliant housing in the county and that a majority of sex
offenders are unable to comply despite good faith efforts. The bill
would require, if relief is granted, that the relief be narrowly
crafted in order to substantially comply with the intent of the
people in approving the residency restriction. The bill would
prohibit a subsequent petition from being heard if relief is granted
or denied, unless the petitioner establishes in the petition, to the
satisfaction of the court, that circumstances regarding compliant
housing have changed, as provided.
Proposition 83 permits the Legislature, by a vote of 2/3 of the
membership of each house and in accordance with specified procedures,
to amend the provisions of the act.
By amending Proposition 83, this bill would require a 2/3 vote.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated
local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 3003.5 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
3003.5. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, when a person is
released on parole after having served a term of imprisonment in
state prison for any offense for which registration is required
pursuant to Section 290, that person may not, during the period of
parole, reside in any single-family dwelling with any other person
also required to register pursuant to Section 290, unless those
persons are legally related by blood, marriage, or adoption. For
purposes of this section, "single-family dwelling" shall not include
a residential facility that serves six or fewer persons.
(b) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, it is unlawful for any
person convicted of any of the offenses enumerated in Section 667.61
and for whom registration is required pursuant to Section 290 to
reside within 2,000 feet of any public or private school, or park
where children regularly gather. The 2,000-foot residency restriction
shall be measured by the shortest practical pedestrian or vehicle
path.
(2) Any person subject to the residency restriction imposed
pursuant to paragraph (1) may, if compliance is not reasonably
possible within his or her county, seek relief pursuant to Section
3003.51.
(c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit municipal jurisdictions
from enacting local ordinances that further restrict the residency
of any person for whom registration is required pursuant to Section
290.
SEC. 2. Section 3003.51 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
3003.51. (a) Any person prohibited pursuant to Section 3003.5
from living within 2,000 feet of any public or private school, or
park where children regularly gather, may seek relief from those
restrictions if he or she cannot comply with the restriction because
of the unavailability of compliant housing within his or her county
of domicile.
(b) Any person seeking relief under this section may file a
petition with the superior court of the county in which he or she
resides. Notice of the petition shall be timely served on the state
parole authority or other entity enforcing the subject sex offender
residency restrictions.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, original jurisdiction for any
petition filed pursuant to this section shall lie with the appellate
division of the superior court in which the petition is filed.
The court may consolidate all pending petitions.
(d) The appellate division of the superior court in which the
petition is filed pursuant to this section may grant the petition if
the petitioner establishes by clear and convincing
a preponderance of the evidence, and the court finds,
both of the following:
(1) There is a pervasive lack of compliant housing within the
petitioner's county of domicile.
(2) As a result of the pervasive lack of compliant housing, a
majority of sex offenders subject to the 2,000-foot residency
restriction have, despite good faith efforts, been unable to find
compliant housing within the county.
(e) Relief granted pursuant to this section shall apply uniformly
to all sex offenders convicted of any of the offenses enumerated in
Section 667.61 and for whom registration is required pursuant to
Section 290 in all communities within the county that are subject to
the 2,000-foot residency restriction and shall, therefore, be
narrowly crafted in order to substantially comply with the intent of
the people in approving the residency requirements of Section 3003.5.
(f) If relief is granted or denied pursuant to this section, no
subsequent petition shall be heard, unless the petitioner or
petitioners establish in the petition, to the satisfaction of the
court, both of the following:
(1) There has been a change of circumstances based upon a
substantial decline in the availability of compliant housing.
(2) There has been a corresponding increase in the percentage of
sex offenders who are unable to comply with the residency restriction
due to the change of circumstances described in paragraph (1) since
the court ruling on the prior petition.
SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to protect the public at the earliest possible time, it
is necessary that this act take effect immediately.
