Sexually violent predators: open court proceedings.

Existing law provides for the civil commitment of criminal offenders who have been determined to be sexually violent predators for treatment in a secure state hospital facility, as specified. Existing law requires the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, within 6 months prior to the inmate's scheduled release date, to refer an inmate who is in custody under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and is either serving a determinate sentence or whose parole has been revoked, for screening by the department and the Board of Parole Hearings based on whether the person has committed a sexually violent predatory offense and on a review of the person's social, criminal, and institutional history. Under existing law, if this screening determines that the person is likely to be a sexually violent predator, the department is required to refer the person to the State Department of State Hospitals for a full evaluation. This bill, for an individual who is in custody under the jurisdiction of the department for the commission of a new offense committed while the individual was serving an indeterminate term in a state hospital as a sexually violent predator, would require the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to refer the person directly to the State Department of State Hospitals for full evaluation as to whether the person still meets the criteria as a sexually violent predator. The bill would, if the evaluators concur that the requirements are still met, require the Director of State Hospitals to petition the court to either return the person to the State Department of State Hospitals to continue serving the remainder of the individual's original indeterminate commitment as a sexually violent predator if the original petition has not been dismissed, or to forward a request for a new petition to be filed if the original petition has been dismissed.