Bill Text: CA AB366 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Child abuse reporting: confidentiality.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-08-23 - In committee: Hearing postponed by committee. [AB366 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB366-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Senate  July 05, 2018

Amended  IN  Senate  June 29, 2017

Amended  IN  Senate  June 20, 2017

Amended  IN  Assembly  March 27, 2017

Amended  IN  Assembly  March 14, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 366

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Introduced by Assembly Member Obernolte Members Lackey and Obernolte
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Lackey)(Principal coauthor: Senator Wilk)

February 08, 2017

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An act to amend Section 1033.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to civil procedure. Section 11167.5 of the Penal Code, relating to child abuse reporting.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 366, as amended, Lackey. Civil actions: fee recovery. Child abuse reporting: confidentiality.

Existing law, the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, establishes procedures for the reporting and investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect. The act requires certain professionals, including teachers and specified school employees, known as “mandated reporters,” to report known or suspected child abuse or neglect to a local law enforcement agency or a county welfare or probation department, as specified. Existing law makes reports of child abuse or neglect confidential and only authorizes the disclosure of the reports to certain individuals or entities.

This bill would authorize the disclosure of those confidential reports to a teacher or school administrator, but only for purposes of disclosing information about child abuse reports filed by that teacher or administrator.

Existing law enumerates the costs that a prevailing party may recover in a civil action. Existing law provides that costs for models and enlargements of exhibits and photocopies of exhibits may be recovered if the items were reasonably helpful to aid the trier of fact.

This bill would authorize a prevailing party to recover fees for the costs associated with the electronic presentation of exhibits, including costs of rental equipment and electronic formatting.

Digest Key

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

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Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

 Section 11167.5 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

11167.5.

 (a) The reports required by Sections 11166 and 11166.2, or authorized by Section 11166.05, and child abuse or neglect investigative reports that result in a summary report being filed with the Department of Justice pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 11169 shall be confidential and may be disclosed only as provided in subdivision (b). Any violation of the confidentiality provided by this article is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed six months, by a fine of five hundred dollars ($500), or by both that imprisonment and fine.

(b) Reports of suspected child abuse or neglect and information contained therein may be disclosed only to the following:

(1) Persons or agencies to whom disclosure of the identity of the reporting party is permitted under Section 11167.

(2) Persons or agencies to whom disclosure of information is permitted under subdivision (b) of Section 11170 or subdivision (a) of Section 11170.5.

(3) Persons or agencies with whom investigations of child abuse or neglect are coordinated under the regulations promulgated under Section 11174.

(4) Multidisciplinary personnel teams as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 18951 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(5) Persons or agencies responsible for the licensing of facilities which care for children, as specified in Section 11165.7.

(6) The State Department of Social Services or any county, as specified in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 11170, when an individual has applied for a license to operate a community care facility or child day care facility, or for a certificate of approval to operate a certified family home or resource family home, or for employment or presence in a licensed facility, certified family home, or resource family home, or when a complaint alleges child abuse or neglect by a licensee or employee of, or individual approved to be present in, a licensed facility, certified family home, or resource family home.

(7) Hospital scan teams. As used in this paragraph, “hospital scan team” means a team of three or more persons established by a hospital, or two or more hospitals in the same county, consisting of health care professionals and representatives of law enforcement and child protective services, the members of which are engaged in the identification of child abuse or neglect. The disclosure authorized by this section includes disclosure among all hospital scan teams.

(8) Coroners and medical examiners when conducting a post mortem examination of a child.

(9) The Board of Parole Hearings, which may subpoena an employee of a county welfare department who can provide relevant evidence and reports that both (A) are not unfounded, pursuant to Section 11165.12, and (B) concern only the current incidents upon which parole revocation proceedings are pending against a parolee charged with child abuse or neglect. The reports and information shall be confidential pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 11167.

(10) Personnel from an agency responsible for making a placement of a child pursuant to Section 361.3 of, and Article 7 (commencing with Section 305) of Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 2 of, the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(11) Persons who have been identified by the Department of Justice as listed in the Child Abuse Central Index pursuant to paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section 11170 or subdivision (c) of Section 11170, or persons who have verified with the Department of Justice that they are listed in the Child Abuse Central Index as provided in subdivision (f) of Section 11170. Disclosure under this paragraph is required notwithstanding the California Public Records Act, Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code. Nothing in this paragraph shall preclude a submitting agency prior to disclosure from redacting any information necessary to maintain confidentiality as required by law.

(12) Out-of-state law enforcement agencies conducting an investigation of child abuse or neglect only when an agency makes the request for reports of suspected child abuse or neglect in writing and on official letterhead, or as designated by the Department of Justice, identifying the suspected abuser or victim by name and date of birth or approximate age. The request shall be signed by the department supervisor of the requesting law enforcement agency. The written request shall cite the out-of-state statute or interstate compact provision that requires that the information contained within these reports is to be disclosed only to law enforcement, prosecutorial entities, or multidisciplinary investigative teams, and shall cite the safeguards in place to prevent unlawful disclosure provided by the requesting state or the applicable interstate compact provision.

(13) Out-of-state agencies responsible for approving prospective foster or adoptive parents for placement of a child only when the agency makes the request in compliance with the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-248). The request shall also cite the safeguards in place to prevent unlawful disclosure provided by the requesting state or the applicable interstate compact provision and indicate that the requesting state shall maintain continual compliance with the requirement in paragraph (20) of subdivision (a) of Section 671 of Title 42 of the United States Code that requires the state have in place safeguards to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of information in any child abuse and neglect registry maintained by the state and prevent the information from being used for a purpose other than the conducting of background checks in foster or adoptive placement cases.

(14) Each chairperson of a county child death review team, or his or her designee, to whom disclosure of information is permitted under this article, relating to the death of one or more children and any prior child abuse or neglect investigation reports maintained involving the same victim, siblings, or suspects. Local child death review teams may share any relevant information regarding case reviews involving child death with other child death review teams.

(15) A teacher or school administrator, but only for purposes of disclosing information about a child abuse report filed by that teacher or administrator pursuant to Section 11166.

(c) Authorized persons within county health departments shall be permitted to receive copies of any reports made by health practitioners, as defined in paragraphs (21) to (28), inclusive, of subdivision (a) of Section 11165.7, and pursuant to Section 11165.13, and copies of assessments completed pursuant to Sections 123600 and 123605 of the Health and Safety Code, to the extent permitted by federal law. Any information received pursuant to this subdivision is protected by subdivision (e).

(d) Nothing in this section requires the Department of Justice to disclose information contained in records maintained under Section 11170 or under the regulations promulgated pursuant to Section 11174, except as otherwise provided in this article.

(e) This section shall not be interpreted to allow disclosure of any reports or records relevant to the reports of child abuse or neglect if the disclosure would be prohibited by any other provisions of state or federal law applicable to the reports or records relevant to the reports of child abuse or neglect.

SECTION 1.Section 1033.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended to read:

1033.5.

(a)The following items are allowable as costs under Section 1032:

(1)Filing, motion, and jury fees.

(2)Juror food and lodging while they are kept together during trial and after the jury retires for deliberation.

(3)(A)Taking, video recording, and transcribing necessary depositions, including an original and one copy of those taken by the claimant and one copy of depositions taken by the party against whom costs are allowed.

(B)Fees of a certified or registered interpreter for the deposition of a party or witness who does not proficiently speak or understand the English language.

(C)Travel expenses to attend depositions.

(4)Service of process by a public officer, registered process server, or other means, as follows:

(A)When service is by a public officer, the recoverable cost is the fee authorized by law at the time of service.

(B)If service is by a process server registered pursuant to Chapter 16 (commencing with Section 22350) of Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, the recoverable cost is the amount actually incurred in effecting service, including, but not limited to, a stakeout or other means employed in locating the person to be served, unless those charges are successfully challenged by a party to the action.

(C)When service is by publication, the recoverable cost is the sum actually incurred in effecting service.

(D)When service is by a means other than that set forth in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C), the recoverable cost is the lesser of the sum actually incurred, or the amount allowed to a public officer in this state for that service, except that the court may allow the sum actually incurred in effecting service upon application pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (c).

(5)Expenses of attachment including keeper’s fees.

(6)Premiums on necessary surety bonds.

(7)Ordinary witness fees pursuant to Section 68093 of the Government Code.

(8)Fees of expert witnesses ordered by the court.

(9)Transcripts of court proceedings ordered by the court.

(10)Attorney’s fees, when authorized by any of the following:

(A)Contract.

(B)Statute.

(C)Law.

(11)Court reporter fees as established by statute.

(12)Court interpreter fees for a qualified court interpreter authorized by the court for an indigent person represented by a qualified legal services project, as defined in Section 6213 of the Business and Professions Code, or a pro bono attorney, as defined in Section 8030.4 of the Business and Professions Code.

(13)Models, the enlargements of exhibits and photocopies of exhibits, and the electronic presentation of exhibits, including costs of rental equipment and electronic formatting, may be allowed if they were reasonably helpful to aid the trier of fact.

(14)Fees for the electronic filing or service of documents through an electronic filing service provider if a court requires or orders electronic filing or service of documents.

(15)Fees for the hosting of electronic documents if a court requires or orders a party to have documents hosted by an electronic filing service provider. This paragraph shall become inoperative on January 1, 2022.

(16)Any other item that is required to be awarded to the prevailing party pursuant to statute as an incident to prevailing in the action at trial or on appeal.

(b)The following items are not allowable as costs, except when expressly authorized by law:

(1)Fees of experts not ordered by the court.

(2)Investigation expenses in preparing the case for trial.

(3)Postage, telephone, and photocopying charges, except for exhibits.

(4)Costs in investigation of jurors or in preparation for voir dire.

(5)Transcripts of court proceedings not ordered by the court.

(c)An award of costs shall be subject to the following:

(1)Costs are allowable if incurred, whether or not paid.

(2)Allowable costs shall be reasonably necessary to the conduct of the litigation rather than merely convenient or beneficial to its preparation.

(3)Allowable costs shall be reasonable in amount.

(4)Items not mentioned in this section and items assessed upon application may be allowed or denied in the court’s discretion.

(5)(A)If a statute of this state refers to the award of “costs and attorney’s fees,” attorney’s fees are an item and component of the costs to be awarded and are allowable as costs pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (10) of subdivision (a). A claim not based upon the court’s established schedule of attorney’s fees for actions on a contract shall bear the burden of proof. Attorney’s fees allowable as costs pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (10) of subdivision (a) may be fixed as follows: (i) upon a noticed motion, (ii) at the time a statement of decision is rendered, (iii) upon application supported by affidavit made concurrently with a claim for other costs, or (iv) upon entry of default judgment. Attorney’s fees allowable as costs pursuant to subparagraph (A) or (C) of paragraph (10) of subdivision (a) shall be fixed either upon a noticed motion or upon entry of a default judgment, unless otherwise provided by stipulation of the parties.

(B)Attorney’s fees awarded pursuant to Section 1717 of the Civil Code are allowable costs under Section 1032 as authorized by subparagraph (A) of paragraph (10) of subdivision (a).