Bill Text: CA SB16 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Administration of justice: county costs: nonhomicide criminal trials.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-08-14 - Set, second hearing. Held under submission. [SB16 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SB16-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 16 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 17, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 21, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 30, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 25, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Gaines
DECEMBER 3, 2012
An act to add Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 15205) to Part
6 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to
counties, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 16, as amended, Gaines. Administration of justice: county
costs: nonhomicide criminal trials.
Existing law authorizes a county that is responsible for the cost
of a trial or trials or any hearing of a person for the offense of
homicide to apply to the Controller for reimbursement of the costs
incurred by the county in excess of a specified amount subject to
certain limitations. Existing law defines "costs incurred by the
county" to mean, among other things, all costs, including the trial
or trials of a person or persons for the offense of homicide,
including costs incurred by the district attorney in investigation
and prosecution, by the sheriff in investigation, by the public
defender or court-appointed attorney or attorneys in investigation
and defense, and all other costs incurred by the county in connection
with bringing the person or persons to trial, including the trial
itself. Existing law authorizes the Controller to establish rules and
regulations to carry out these provisions.
This bill would, when the Attorney General is handling the
investigation and prosecution of a nonhomicide crime in a county, as
specified, authorize the county that is responsible for the defense
costs of a trial or trials or any hearing of a person for the offense
of a nonhomicide crime to apply to the Controller for reimbursement
of the defense costs incurred by the county in excess of
that same amount and subject to those same limitations. The
bill would make this authorization applicable to any nonhomicide
criminal trial or trials or any hearing commencing on or after
January 1, 2012. The bill would authorize the Controller to adopt
rules and regulations to carry out these provisions.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 15205) is added to
Part 6 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:
CHAPTER 3.5. ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE: NONHOMICIDE TRIALS
15205. The Legislature declares that: (1) the uniform
administration of justice throughout the state is a matter of
statewide interest; (2) the defense and conduct of trials of persons
accused of nonhomicide crimes should not be hampered or delayed by
any lack of funds available to the counties for these purposes; (3) a
county should not be required to bear the entire defense costs of a
trial involving a nonhomicide crime if these costs will seriously
impair the finances of the county; and (4) it is the intention of the
Legislature in enacting this chapter to provide for state assistance
to counties in these emergency situations.
15205.2. As used in this chapter, "costs incurred by the county"
means all costs, except normal salaries and expenses, incurred by the
county in defending at trial or trials, including the trial or
trials of a person or persons for the offense of a nonhomicide crime,
including costs, except normal salaries and expenses, incurred by
the public defender in investigation and defense. Trial defense costs
shall also include all pretrials, hearings, and postconviction
proceedings, if any.
15205.4. (a) Subject to appropriation by the Legislature, when
the Attorney General is handling the investigation and prosecution of
a nonhomicide crime in a county, as specified in subdivision (b),
the county that is responsible for the defense costs of a trial or
trials or any hearing of a person for the offense of a nonhomicide
crime may apply to the Controller for reimbursement of the costs
incurred by the county in excess of the amount of money
derived by the county from a tax of 0.0125 of 1 percent of the full
value of property assessed for purposes of taxation within the county
.
(b) The county authorization in subdivision (a) shall apply to any
nonhomicide criminal trial or trials or any hearing commencing on or
after January 1, 2012. The county authorization in subdivision (a)
shall apply only to a trial or trials when the Attorney General is
handling investigation and prosecution of a nonhomicide crime due to
the scope and complexity of the case, and not when the Attorney
General is handling the prosecution of a nonhomicide crime because a
district attorney has been recused solely to avoid a conflict of
interest or for any other reason unrelated to the scope and
complexity of the case.
(c) The Controller shall not reimburse any county for costs that
exceed the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board'
s standards for travel and per diem expenses. The Controller may
reimburse extraordinary costs in unusual cases if the county provides
sufficient justification of the need for these expenditures. This
section shall not permit the reimbursement of costs for travel in
excess of 1,000 miles on any single round trip, without the prior
approval of the Attorney General.
(d) Subject to appropriation by the Legislature, reimbursement
funds appropriated pursuant to this section shall be available for
three fiscal years from the date of the appropriation. After three
fiscal years, any unused funds shall revert back to the General Fund.
15205.6. If the venue for trial of a nonhomicide criminal case
has been changed from the county that is eligible for reimbursement
under Section 15205.4 to another county, and the public defender of
that county has entered into a contract with an attorney to try the
case or an investigator to assist in the trial of the case, the
Controller shall, upon appropriation by the Legislature, reimburse
the county for the actual defense costs of the attorney or
investigator under this section, at an hourly rate not to exceed the
hourly rate charged to state agencies by the Attorney General for
similar attorney services or investigators, without a further showing
of justification. This section shall not permit the reimbursement of
costs for travel in excess of 1,000 miles on any single round trip,
without the prior approval of the Attorney General.
15205.8. If the county meets the conditions described in Section
15205.4 and applies to the Controller for reimbursement pursuant to
that section, and the Controller determines that the reimbursement
meets the provisions of Section 15205.2, the Controller shall request
that the Director of Finance include any amounts necessary to
fulfill the purposes of Section 15205.4 annually in a request for a
deficiency appropriation in augmentation of the emergency fund.
15205.10. Subject to the rulemaking provisions of the
Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2), the Controller may adopt
rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
SEC. 2. 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 authorize a county that is responsible for the defense
costs of a trial or trials or any hearing of a person for the
offense of a nonhomicide crime, when the Attorney General is handling
the prosecution of a nonhomicide crime in the county, to apply to
the Controller for reimbursement of the defense costs incurred by the
county, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.
