BILL NUMBER: AB 2318 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 18, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ian Calderon
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act to add Section 3055 to amend
Section 830.5 of the Penal Code, relating to parole.
peace officers.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2318, as amended, Ian Calderon. Parole.
Peace officers: transportation detail.
Existing law designates various persons as peace officers,
including probation officers, parole officers, and parole agents, and
provides that their authority extends to certain duties, including
to the transportation of persons on parole, probation, mandatory
supervision, or postrelease community supervision, and violations of
law that are discovered while performing their duties. Existing law
requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division
of Juvenile Justice, to develop and implement a policy for arming
peace officers of the division who comprise "high-risk transportation
details." Existing law requires the Secretary of the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation to make a determination regarding that
term and to consider protection of the public, protection of
officers, flight risk, and violence potential of the wards in making
that determination. Existing law also defines "transportation detail"
for purposes of these provisions to include transportation of wards
outside the facility, including, but not limited to, court
appearances, medical trips, and interfacility transfers.
This bill would revise the definition of "transportation detail"
for purposes of these provisions to specifically include work detail.
The bill would also make technical changes.
Existing law generally regulates the granting and conditioning of
parole, and places the duty to monitor parolees on the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Adult Parole Operations.
Under existing law, amended by Proposition 9, also known as Marsy's
Law, the Board of Parole Hearings is the state's parole authority and
authorizes the board to release a prisoner on a specified period of
parole after the expiration of a term of imprisonment. Under existing
law, the department is authorized to return a parolee to prison if
the Board of Parole Hearings determines that the parolee violated the
terms of his or her parole, as specified. Marsy's Law may be amended
by a bill passed by a 3/4 vote of each house of the Legislature.
This bill would require the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation to establish a program to allow elderly prisoners, who
meet specified criteria, to apply for, and be released on parole.
Vote: 3/4 majority . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 830.5 of the Penal
Code is amended to read:
830.5. The following persons are peace officers whose authority
extends to any place in the state while engaged in the performance of
the duties of their respective employment and for the purpose of
carrying out the primary function of their employment or as required
under Sections 8597, 8598, and 8617 of the Government Code, as
amended by Section 44 of Chapter 1124 of the Statutes of 2002. Except
as specified in this section, these peace officers may carry
firearms only if authorized and under those terms and conditions
specified by their employing agency:
(a) A parole officer of the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, or the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,
Division of Juvenile Parole Operations, probation officer, deputy
probation officer, or a board coordinating parole agent employed by
the Juvenile Parole Board. Except as otherwise provided in this
subdivision, the authority of these parole or probation officers
shall extend only as follows:
(1) To conditions of parole, probation, mandatory supervision, or
postrelease community supervision by any a
person in this state on parole, probation, mandatory
supervision, or postrelease community supervision.
(2) To the escape of any an inmate
or ward from a state or local institution.
(3) To the transportation of persons on parole, probation,
mandatory supervision, or postrelease community supervision.
(4) To violations of any penal provisions of law which
that are discovered while performing the usual
or authorized duties of his or her employment.
(5) (A) To the rendering of mutual aid to any other law
enforcement agency.
(B) For the purposes of this subdivision, "parole agent" shall
have the same meaning as parole officer of the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation or of the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Justice.
(C) Any parole officer of the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, or the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,
Division of Juvenile Parole Operations, is authorized to carry
firearms, but only as determined by the director on a case-by-case or
unit-by-unit basis and only under those terms and conditions
specified by the director or chairperson. The Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Justice, shall
develop a policy for arming peace officers of the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Justice, who
comprise "high-risk transportation details" or "high-risk escape
details" no later than June 30, 1995. This policy shall be
implemented no later than December 31, 1995.
(D) The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of
Juvenile Justice, shall train and arm those peace officers who
comprise tactical teams at each facility for use during "high-risk
escape details."
(b) A correctional officer employed by the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, or of the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Justice, having custody of
wards or any an employee of the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation designated by the
secretary or any a correctional
counselor series employee of the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation or any medical technical assistant series employee
designated by the secretary or designated by the secretary and
employed by the State Department of Mental Health
State Hospitals or any an
employee of the Board of Parole Hearings designated by the secretary
or employee of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,
Division of Juvenile Justice, designated by the secretary or
any a superintendent, supervisor, or employee
having custodial responsibilities in an institution operated by a
probation department, or any a
transportation officer of a probation department.
(c) The following persons may carry a firearm while not on duty: a
parole officer of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,
or the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of
Juvenile Justice, a correctional officer or correctional counselor
employed by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or an
employee of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,
Division of Juvenile Justice, having custody of wards or any
an employee of the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation designated by the secretary. A parole officer of
the Juvenile Parole Board may carry a firearm while not on duty only
when so authorized by the chairperson of the board and only under the
terms and conditions specified by the chairperson. Nothing in this
section shall be interpreted to require licensure pursuant to Section
25400. The director or chairperson may deny, suspend, or revoke for
good cause a person's right to carry a firearm under this
subdivision. That person shall, upon request, receive a hearing, as
provided for in the negotiated grievance procedure between the
exclusive employee representative and the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Justice, or the Juvenile
Parole Board, to review the director's or the chairperson's decision.
(d) Persons permitted to carry firearms a
firearm pursuant to this section, either on or off duty, shall
meet the training requirements of Section 832 and shall qualify with
the firearm at least quarterly. It is the responsibility of the
individual officer or designee to maintain his or her eligibility to
carry concealable firearms off duty. Failure to maintain quarterly
qualifications by an officer or designee with any concealable
firearms carried off duty shall constitute good cause to suspend or
revoke that person's right to carry firearms off duty.
(e) The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall allow
reasonable access to its ranges for officers and designees of either
department to qualify to carry concealable firearms off duty. The
time spent on the range for purposes of meeting the qualification
requirements shall be the person's own time during the person's
off-duty hours.
(f) The secretary shall promulgate regulations consistent with
this section.
(g) "High-risk transportation details" and "high-risk escape
details" as used in this section shall be determined by the
secretary, secretary or his or her designee. The
secretary, secretary or his or her
designee, designee shall consider at
least the following in determining "high-risk transportation details"
and "high-risk escape details": protection of the public, protection
of officers, flight risk, and violence potential of the wards.
(h) "Transportation detail" as used in this section shall include
transportation of wards outside the facility, including, but not
limited to, court appearances, medical trips, work detail,
and interfacility transfers.
(i) This section is operative January 1, 2012.
SECTION 1. Section 3055 is added to the Penal
Code, to read:
3055. (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(1) The number of elderly prisoners in California is increasing
exponentially. According to the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, as of June 30, 2012, the population of prisoners 55
years of age and older was almost 7,500, and that number is projected
to rise to at least 8,500 by 2014.
(2) Due to the high costs associated with geriatric medical needs,
elderly prisoners cost an average of two to three times more to
incarcerate than the general prison population. California spends
between $98,000 and $138,000 per year to house each individual over
55 years of age.
(3) There is a significantly lower risk of recidivism among
elderly prisoners according to Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation statistics. The department's 2012 outcome report shows
an 11.6 percent drop in recidivism between those in the 50 to 54,
inclusive, age bracket and those in the 60 and over age bracket, and
reports that only 36.2 percent of people 60 years of age and older,
who were released for the first time, returned to prison.
(b) The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall
establish a program to allow elderly prisoners, who meet the criteria
set forth in subdivision (c), to apply for, and be released on,
parole.
(c) To be eligible for parole pursuant to subdivision (b), a
prisoner shall meet all of the following criteria:
(1) Be 55 years of age or older.
(2) Have served at least 50 percent of his or her sentence.
(3) Have no serious disciplinary infraction in the last two years.
(4) Have a reentry plan identifying residential, financial, and
social integration plans.