Bill Text: CA SB263 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Protective orders: use of an unmanned aircraft system.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-02-01 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB263 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB263-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 263 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 6, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Gaines
FEBRUARY 18, 2015
An act to amend Section 4210 273.6
of the Public Resources Penal Code,
relating to fire prevention. protective
orders.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 263, as amended, Gaines. Fire prevention: state
responsibility areas. Protective orders: use of an
unmanned aircraft system.
Existing federal law, the Federal Aviation Administration
Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, provides for the integration of
civil unmanned aircraft systems, commonly known as drones, into the
national airspace system by September 30, 2015. Existing federal law
requires the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to
develop and implement operational and certification requirements for
the operation of public unmanned aircraft systems in the national
airspace system by December 31, 2015.
Existing state law generally authorizes a court to issue an order
for the protection of certain persons, including, among others, the
victims of domestic violence, elder and dependent adult abuse,
workplace violence, and civil harassment. Under existing law, an
intentional and knowing violation of those types of protective orders
is a misdemeanor. If the violation results in physical injury, or
occurs within specified time periods of a previous violation,
existing law imposes additional penalties. Existing law also makes
the crime of stalking another person, as defined, punishable as a
misdemeanor or felony. Existing law makes it a felony to commit that
offense when there is a temporary restraining order, injunction, or
any other court order in effect prohibiting the behavior.
This bill would specifically prohibit a person subject to certain
protective orders, when the person is prohibited by the protective
order from coming within a specified distance of another person, from
operating an unmanned aircraft system in a way that causes an
unmanned aircraft, as those terms are defined, to fly within the
prohibited distance of the other person, or from capturing images of
the other person by using an unmanned aircraft system. By creating a
new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Existing law makes certain findings and declarations regarding
fire protection of the public trust resources on lands in state
responsibility areas, including that the costs of fire prevention
activities aimed at reducing the effects of structures in state
responsibility areas should be borne by the owners of the structures.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to this law.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no
yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 273.6 of the Penal
Code is amended to read:
273.6. (a) Any intentional and knowing violation of a protective
order, as defined in Section 6218 of the Family Code, or of an order
issued pursuant to Section 527.6, 527.8, or 527.85 of the Code of
Civil Procedure, or Section 15657.03 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code, is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than one
thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail for
not more than one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(b) In the event of a violation of subdivision (a) that results in
physical injury, the person shall be punished by a fine of not more
than two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by imprisonment in a county
jail for not less than 30 days nor more than one year, or by both
that fine and imprisonment. However, if the person is imprisoned in a
county jail for at least 48 hours, the court may, in the interest of
justice and for reasons stated on the record, reduce or eliminate
the 30-day minimum imprisonment required by this subdivision. In
determining whether to reduce or eliminate the minimum imprisonment
pursuant to this subdivision, the court shall consider the
seriousness of the facts before the court, whether there are
additional allegations of a violation of the order during the
pendency of the case before the court, the probability of future
violations, the safety of the victim, and whether the defendant has
successfully completed or is making progress with counseling.
(c) Subdivisions (a) and (b) shall apply to the following court
orders:
(1) Any order issued pursuant to Section 6320 or 6389 of the
Family Code.
(2) An order excluding one party from the family dwelling or from
the dwelling of the other.
(3) An order enjoining a party from specified behavior that the
court determined was necessary to effectuate the order described in
subdivision (a).
(4) Any order issued by another state that is recognized under
Part 5 (commencing with Section 6400) of Division 10 of the Family
Code.
(d) A subsequent conviction for a violation of an order described
in subdivision (a), occurring within seven years of a prior
conviction for a violation of an order described in subdivision (a)
and involving an act of violence or "a credible threat" of violence,
as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 139, is punishable by
imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or pursuant to
subdivision (h) of Section 1170.
(e) In the event of a subsequent conviction for a violation of an
order described in subdivision (a) for an act occurring within one
year of a prior conviction for a violation of an order described in
subdivision (a) that results in physical injury to a victim, the
person shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand
dollars ($2,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail for not less
than six months nor more than one year, by both that fine and
imprisonment, or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of
Section 1170. However, if the person is imprisoned in a county jail
for at least 30 days, the court may, in the interest of justice and
for reasons stated in the record, reduce or eliminate the six-month
minimum imprisonment required by this subdivision. In determining
whether to reduce or eliminate the minimum imprisonment pursuant to
this subdivision, the court shall consider the seriousness of the
facts before the court, whether there are additional allegations of a
violation of the order during the pendency of the case before the
court, the probability of future violations, the safety of the
victim, and whether the defendant has successfully completed or is
making progress with counseling.
(f) The prosecuting agency of each county shall have the primary
responsibility for the enforcement of orders described in
subdivisions (a), (b), (d), and (e).
(g) (1) Every person who owns, possesses, purchases, or receives a
firearm knowing he or she is prohibited from doing so by the
provisions of a protective order as defined in Section 136.2 of this
code, Section 6218 of the Family Code, or Section 527.6, 527.8, or
527.85 of the Code of Civil Procedure, or Section 15657.03 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code, shall be punished under Section 29825.
(2) Every person subject to a protective order described in
paragraph (1) shall not be prosecuted under this section for owning,
possessing, purchasing, or receiving a firearm to the extent that
firearm is granted an exemption pursuant to subdivision (f) of
Section 527.9 of the Code of Civil Procedure, or subdivision (h) of
Section 6389 of the Family Code.
(h) If probation is granted upon conviction of a violation of
subdivision (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e), the court shall impose
probation consistent with Section 1203.097, and the conditions of
probation may include, in lieu of a fine, one or both of the
following requirements:
(1) That the defendant make payments to a battered women's shelter
or to a shelter for abused elder persons or dependent adults, up to
a maximum of five thousand dollars ($5,000), pursuant to Section
1203.097.
(2) That the defendant reimburse the victim for reasonable costs
of counseling and other reasonable expenses that the court finds are
the direct result of the defendant's offense.
(i) For any order to pay a fine, make payments to a battered women'
s shelter, or pay restitution as a condition of probation under
subdivision (e), the court shall make a determination of the
defendant's ability to pay. In no event shall any order to make
payments to a battered women's shelter be made if it would impair the
ability of the defendant to pay direct restitution to the victim or
court-ordered child support. Where the injury to a married person is
caused in whole or in part by the criminal acts of his or her spouse
in violation of this section, the community property may not be used
to discharge the liability of the offending spouse for restitution to
the injured spouse, required by Section 1203.04, as operative on or
before August 2, 1995, or Section 1202.4, or to a shelter for costs
with regard to the injured spouse and dependents, required by this
section, until all separate property of the offending spouse is
exhausted.
(j) (1) This subdivision applies to a person who is both of the
following:
(A) The person is subject to a protective order, as defined in
Section 6218 of the Family Code, or a protective order issued
pursuant to this code, Section 527.6, 527.8, or 527.85 of the Code of
Civil Procedure, or Section 15657.03 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code.
(B) The person is prohibited by the protective order described in
subparagraph (A) from coming within a specified distance of another
person.
(2) A person described in paragraph (1) shall not do either of the
following:
(A) Operate an unmanned aircraft system in a way that causes an
unmanned aircraft to fly within the prohibited distance of the other
person.
(B) Capture images of the other person by using an unmanned
aircraft system.
(3) A violation of paragraph (2) shall be a violation of the
protective order.
(4) For purposes of this subdivision, the following definitions
apply:
(A) "Unmanned aircraft" means an aircraft that is operated without
the possibility of direct human intervention from within or on the
aircraft.
(B) "Unmanned aircraft system" means an unmanned aircraft and
associated elements, including, but not limited to, communication
links and the components that control the unmanned aircraft that are
required for the pilot in command to operate safely and efficiently
in the national airspace system.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.
SECTION 1. Section 4210 of the Public Resources
Code is amended to read:
4210. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Fire protection of the public trust resources on lands in the
state responsibility areas remains a vital interest to California.
Lands that are covered in whole or in part by a diverse plant
community prevent excessive erosion, retard runoff, reduce
sedimentation, and accelerate water percolation to assist in the
maintenance of critical sources of water for environmental,
irrigation, domestic, or industrial uses.
(b) The presence of structures within state responsibility areas
can pose an increased risk of fire ignition and an increased
potential for fire damage within the state's wildlands and
watersheds. The presence of structures within state responsibility
areas can also impair wildland firefighting techniques and could
result in greater damage to state lands caused by wildfires.
(c) The costs of fire prevention activities aimed at reducing the
effects of structures in state responsibility areas should be borne
by the owners of the structures.
(d) Individual owners of structures within state responsibility
areas receive a disproportionately larger benefit from fire
prevention activities than that realized by the state's citizens
generally.
(e) It is the intent of the Legislature that the economic burden
of fire prevention activities that are associated with structures in
state responsibility areas shall be equitably distributed among the
citizens of the state who generally benefit from those activities and
those owners of structures in the state responsibility areas who
receive a specific benefit other than that general benefit.
(f) It is necessary to impose a fire prevention fee to pay for
fire prevention activities in the state responsibility areas that
specifically benefit owners of structures in the state responsibility
areas.
