Bill Text: CA AB2624 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 2624

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Prisoners: employment: bereavement.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-07-01 - From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on APPR. [AB2624 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2624-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly April 24, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2624

Introduced by Assembly Member Waldron

February 14, 2024

An act to add Section 2710 to the Penal Code, relating to prisoners.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2624, as amended, Waldron. Prisoners: employment: bereavement.

Existing law requires every able-bodied prisoner imprisoned in a state prison to work as many hours of faithful labor in each day and every day during their term of imprisonment as prescribed by the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in departmental rules and regulations.

This bill would require a person incarcerated in the state prison to be allowed relief with pay from prison employment after the death of an immediate family member of the incarcerated person, as specified, ~~subject to the discretion of the prison warden or other administrator of the facility.~~ unless the incarcerated person is employed in a position requiring emergency response and there is an exigent circumstance requiring their employment during the requested period, and if so, would require the warden or prison administrator to grant the requested relief as soon as practicable after the exigent circumstance has ended.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 2710 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

2710.

(a) (1) An incarcerated person imprisoned in a state prison shall be allowed relief from prison employment after the death of an immediate family member of the incarcerated person.

(2) If the incarcerated person is enrolled in an educational program instead of, or in addition to, being employed, the incarcerated person shall additionally be allowed relief from the educational program.

(3) The incarcerated person shall request relief from the warden or their designee.

(4) The incarcerated person shall provide substantiation to support the request.

(5) Upon receiving the request and substantiation, the warden shall approve or deny the relief as soon as practicable.

(b) The incarcerated person shall be paid their regular compensation for the hours and days the individual is scheduled to work during the period of relief.

(d) To the extent resources are available, the incarcerated person shall have access to a mental health professional during their period of relief.

(e)The final decision of relief from employment and access to a mental health professional offered the incarcerated person pursuant to this section shall be at the discretion of the warden or other administrator of the facility.
(e) (1) The warden or other administrator of the facility shall grant the relief from employment pursuant to this section unless the incarcerated person is employed in a position requiring emergency response, including, but not limited to, a firefighter, and there is an exigent circumstance requiring their employment during the period requested by the incarcerated person.
(2) If the warden or other administrator of the facility denies the relief pursuant to paragraph (1), the relief shall be granted as soon as practicable after the exigent circumstance has ended.

(f) (1) This section does not authorize an incarcerated person to leave the prison facility.

(2) This section does not authorize the prison to deny an incarcerated person access to other regularly scheduled activities, including, but not limited to, recreation, meals, group sessions, or counseling.

(g) For purposes of this section, “immediate family” means any spouse, whether by marriage or not, parent, child, any person related by consanguinity or affinity within the second degree, or any other person who, within six months before the commission of the crime for which the person was convicted to state prison, regularly resided in the household.