Amended  IN  Senate  March 21, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 841

Introduced by Senator Jones
(Principal coauthor: Senator Hueso)
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Cooper)
(Coauthors: Senators Grove and Wilk)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Lackey, Voepel, and Waldron)

January 10, 2022

An act to add Section 6609.4 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to sexually violent predators, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 841, as amended, Jones. Sexually violent predators.
Existing law defines a sexually violent predator as a person who has been convicted of a sexually violent offense and has a diagnosed mental disorder that makes the person a danger to others in that they are likely to engage in sexually violent criminal behavior. Existing law requires the State Department of State Hospitals to notify the sheriff or chief of police, or both, the district attorney, or the county’s designated counsel, as specified, when the department makes a recommendation to the court for community outpatient treatment for a person committed as a sexually violent predator, or when a person who is committed as a sexually violent predator has petitioned a court for conditional release under supervision and treatment in the community pursuant to a conditional release program, or has petitioned a court for subsequent unconditional discharge, and a community placement is recommended or proposed. Existing law requires a sexually violent predator who is conditionally released to be placed in the county that was the person’s county of domicile prior to the person’s incarceration, unless extraordinary circumstances exist requiring placement outside the county, as specified.
This act, the Sexually Violent Predator Accountability, Fairness, and Enforcement Act, would require the State Department of State Hospitals to take specified actions regarding the placement of sexually violent predators in communities, including notifying the county’s executive officer of the placement location, as specified, and limiting placement in any one supervisorial district of a county to no more than 40% of the total placement for that county. preparing an annual report on, among other things, the number and location of sexually violent predators under department supervision. The bill would require the State Department of State Hospitals, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to report to the Governor and the Legislature the status of quarters available for placement of sexually violent predators, as specified.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 Section 6609.4 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

6609.4.
 (a) This act shall be known, and may be cited as, the Sexually Violent Predator Accountability, Fairness, and Enforcement Act.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares that the placement of sexually violent predators has historically been done in secret and deceptive ways by the state. Sexually violent predators have been dumped in residential neighborhoods, which has caused numerous problems for these neighborhoods and wasted tax dollars. Additionally, the state has often placed far too many sexually violent predators in the same areas, overburdening specific communities. It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this measure, that the placement of sexually violent predators be more equitable and transparent.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the State Department of State Hospitals shall do all of the following:
(1) Prior to any action by the department, or a vendor, regarding the placement of a sexually violent predator in a specific location in a county, the Director of State Hospitals shall verify with the county’s executive officer the supervisorial district in which placement is proposed.

(2)The department and its vendors shall not place more than 40 percent of the sexually violent predators under their supervision in a county in any one supervisorial district of that county.

(3)

(2) The Director of State Hospitals shall prepare an annual report on the number of sexually violent predators under department supervision and specify in which counties, and supervisorial districts, the sexually violent predators are located. The department shall post the annual report on its internet website and make the report available to the public by March 15 of each year.

(4)

(3) The Director of State Hospitals is responsible for ensuring that department vendors consider public safety as the overriding consideration in the placement of a sexually violent predator.

(5)

(4) The Director of State Hospitals shall approve a potential placement before a department employee or vendor signs a lease or rental agreement regarding the placement of a sexually violent predator.
(d) The Director of State Hospitals, the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection shall report to the Governor and the Legislature, by December 31, 2021, 2022, the status of trailers, or other suitable placement quarters, available at their properties for potential placement of sexually violent predators.

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 California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to protect the public and ensure greater transparency in the placement of sexually violent predators in communities at the earliest possible time, it is necessary for this act to take effect immediately.