Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of adult alcohol or other drug recovery or treatment facilities by the State Department of Public Health and prohibits the operation of one of those facilities without a current valid license. Existing law requires the department, if a facility is alleged to be in violation of that prohibition, to conduct a site visit to investigate the allegation. Existing law requires, if the department's employee or agent finds evidence that the facility is providing services without a license, the employee or agent to take specified actions, including, among others, submitting the findings of the investigation to the department and issuing a written notice to the facility that includes the date by which the facility is required to cease providing services. Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services, through fee-for-service or managed care delivery systems. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law establishes the Drug Medi-Cal Treatment Program (Drug Medi-Cal) and authorizes the department to enter into a Drug Medi-Cal contract with each county for the provision of alcohol and drug use services within the county service area. This bill would require the department, if it determines it has jurisdiction over the allegation, to assign the complaint to an analyst within 10 days of receiving the allegation and, except as specified, complete the investigation within 120 days of assigning the complaint. The bill would require the department, if it receives a complaint that does not fall under its jurisdiction, to notify, to the extent feasible, the complainant that it does not investigate that type of complaint. The bill would require the employee or agent to provide their findings to the department and would require the department to issue the notice described above within 10 days of the employee or agency submitting their findings and to conduct a followup site visit to determine whether the facility has ceased providing services as required. The bill would authorize, in counties that elect to administer the Drug Medi-Cal organized delivery system and that provide optional recovery housing services, the county behavioral health agency to request approval from the department to conduct a site visit of a recovery residence that the county contracts with that is alleged to be operating without a license. The bill would permit the department to approve that request in certain circumstances, including that the department has sufficient evidence to substantiate the allegation. Existing law requires licensed adult alcohol or other drug recovery or treatment facilities and certified alcohol or other drug programs to disclose to the department whether any of its agents, partners, directors, officers, or owners has a specified interest in a recovery residence and requires the department to take action against an unlicensed facility that is disclosed as a recovery residence. This bill would require the department, if it takes action against a recovery residence pursuant to that provision, to conduct a site visit of a certified program or licensed facility that has disclosed the specified interest in the recovery residence. The bill would also require, no later than July 15, 2027, and by July 15 each year thereafter, that all programs certified or facilities licensed by the department submit to the department a report of all money transfers between the program or facility and a recovery residence during the previous fiscal year, in order to detect patient brokering, illicit kickbacks, or unethical inducements that harm patients. The bill would require the department to analyze that data and develop guidelines for permissible and impermissible transfers.
(1) Existing law, the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Licensing Act of 2003, requires a retailer, as defined, to hold a license from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration to engage in the sale of cigarettes or tobacco products. A violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor. This bill would expand those provisions to prohibit a retailer from selling nitrous oxide in any retail location, subject to certain exceptions. The bill would authorize a city or county or city and county to adopt an ordinance imposing greater restrictions on the retail sale of nitrous oxide provided the ordinance does not restrict legitimate uses, as specified. (2) By expanding the definition of an existing crime, this 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.
(1) Existing law tolls the periods of limitation to bring specific civil actions for up to 2 years, if during that time that the claimant is imprisoned on a criminal charge, as specified. However, under existing law these tolling provisions do not apply to an action brought against a public entity or public employee, as specified. This bill would, notwithstanding any other law, provide that the period for bringing an action for sexual assault against a public entity or public employee that is alleged to have occurred while the claimant was imprisoned on a criminal charge, or in execution under the sentence of a criminal court, is tolled during the entire period of the claimant's imprisonment or sentence. Under the bill, any claim for sexual assault against a public entity or public employee subject to that provision is exempt from all state and local government claim presentation requirements. (2) Existing law establishes the Office of the Sexual Abuse in Detention Elimination Ombudsperson with the authority to inspect all of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation institutions and to interview all inmates and wards. Under existing law, if an investigation confirms that any employee of the department has sexually abused an inmate or ward, that employee is required to be terminated. Existing law prohibits retaliation against an inmate or ward for making an allegation of sexual abuse. Existing law requires the department to keep statistics on the sexual abuse of inmates and wards and make that data available to the Office of the Sexual Abuse in Detention Elimination Ombudsperson. This bill would prohibit an employee who has been terminated after an investigation confirms that the employee has sexually abused an incarcerated person or ward from future employment with the department. This bill would require the department to monitor for 90 days an incarcerated person who reports sexual assault, and the incarcerated person reported to have suffered the sexual assault, by a staff member for possible retaliation. The bill would require the department to make specific notifications and reporting after an incarcerated person is reported to have suffered a sexual assault. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2028, to develop and implement procedures for notifications of an incarcerated person's contact person, as defined. The bill would require the department to minimize the transfer of an incarcerated person who is reported to have suffered a sexual assault by a staff member for 90 days following the report, unless there is an operational need to do so or there are safety, security, or health concerns. The bill would define terms for its purposes and declare these provisions are severable.
Existing law, as added by Proposition 9, the Victims' Bill of Rights Act of 2008: Marsy's Law (Marsy's Law) , at the November 4, 2008, statewide general election, requires a law enforcement agency investigating a criminal act and an agency prosecuting a criminal act to, at the time of initial contact with a crime victim, during followup investigation, or as soon thereafter as deemed appropriate, provide or make available to the victim a "Marsy Rights" card that contains the constitutional rights of crime victims without charge or cost to the victim. Marsy's Law provides that its provisions shall not be amended by the Legislature except by a statute passed in each house by rollcall vote entered in the journal, 34 of the membership of each house concurring. Marsy's Law also provides that the Legislature may amend its provisions to expand the scope of its application, to recognize additional rights of victims of crime, or to further the rights of victims of crime by a statute passed by a majority vote of the membership of each house. Existing law requires a law enforcement agency investigating a criminal act and an agency prosecuting a criminal act to, at the time of initial contact with a crime victim, during followup investigation, or as soon thereafter as deemed appropriate by investigating officers or prosecuting attorneys, inform each victim of the rights they have under applicable law relating to the victimization and provide each victim without charge or cost a "Victim Protections and Resources" card. Existing law requires the Attorney General to design and make available in PDF or other imaging format this card with specified information on the card, including information about federal immigration relief available to certain victims of crime. Commencing no later than January 1, 2028, this bill, the Defending Immigrant Victims Act, would require a law enforcement agency investigating a criminal act and an agency prosecuting a criminal act, at the time of initial contact with a crime victim, during followup investigation, or as soon thereafter as deemed appropriate by investigating officers or prosecuting attorneys, to inform each victim, the victim's next of kin if the victim is deceased, or the victim's parent or guardian if the victim is a minor of the rights they may have under applicable law relating to immigration relief. The bill would require a law enforcement agency and a prosecuting agency to provide a victim an "Immigrant Victims Rights and Resources" card that would provide specified information pertaining to the victim's rights, including a statement explaining how to consult an immigration attorney to help determine eligibility for immigration relief. The bill would require the Attorney General, by January 1, 2028, to design the card and make it available in English, Spanish, and any other language in which the "Marsy Rights" card is currently translated, and in a PDF or other imaging format, to law enforcement agencies and agencies prosecuting crimes, as specified. Because this bill would result in additional duties on local law enforcement and prosecuting agencies in informing victims, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make a conforming change. 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law, the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, establishes procedures for the reporting and investigation of suspected child abuse or neglect. Existing law requires certain professionals, including specified health practitioners and social workers, 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 requires an employee of those agencies, in certain circumstances, to send or have sent, within 36 hours, a copy of a report made pursuant to these provisions to the attorney who represents the child, who is the subject of the report, in dependency court. Existing law requires the agency to maintain a copy of the written report and provide all information requested by the attorney for the child or the child's guardian ad litem within 30 days of the request. This bill would require, if a county welfare agency substantiates a report for an incident that occurred in an out-of-home placement, including, but not limited to, placement in foster or congregate care, or if a child is removed from an out-of-home placement due to abuse or neglect, a county welfare agency to send notice, containing specified information, of the report to the attorney who represents a parent or legal guardian of the child in dependency court and, in the case of an Indian child, the tribal representative. The bill would make that requirement inapplicable to a parent whose parental rights have been terminated. The bill would require, if a county welfare agency substantiates a report for an incident that occurred in an out-of-home placement, including, but not limited to, placement in foster or congregate care, or if a child is removed from an out-of-home placement due to abuse or neglect, the agency to send a notice of the report, as specified, to all attorneys who represent a child with an open dependency case in that placement, as provided. By expanding the duties of local agencies that receive reports alleging abuse or neglect of children, this 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 provides that any person who willfully and lewdly commits any lewd or lascivious act, including any of the acts constituting other crimes, as provided, upon or with the body, or any part or member thereof, of a child who is under 14 years of age, with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust, passions, or sexual desires of that person or the child, is guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 3, 6, or 8 years. The bill would require the Department of Justice, upon completion of an investigation of a person who holds an elected office in which the department determines the person committed specified crimes relating to rape, that the victim was a minor, and that the case is appropriate for prosecution, to bring criminal charges against that person within 30 days. Existing law authorizes a court to grant pretrial diversion to a defendant suffering from a mental disorder, on an accusatory pleading alleging the commission of a misdemeanor or felony offense, in order to allow the defendant to undergo mental health treatment. Existing law makes a defendant ineligible for this diversion program if the defendant is charged with specified offenses, including, among other offenses, any sex offense except indecent exposure. This bill would, when the facts alleged in the accusatory pleading or disclosed in the preliminary hearing transcript would constitute an offense for which a defendant would be ineligible for diversion under these provisions, and the defendant has not been charged with those offenses, require the prosecution to state on the record why those charges are not being sought and whether they have conferred with the victim about the charges filed. By increasing duties on prosecutors, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1001.36 of the Penal Code proposed by AB 46 to be operative only if this bill and AB 46 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law requires a social media platform to take certain actions with respect to child sexual abuse material on the social media platform, including requiring the platform to provide, in a mechanism that is reasonably accessible to users, a means for a user who is a California resident to report material to the platform that the user reasonably believes meets certain criteria, including that the reported material is child sexual abuse material and that the reporting user is depicted in the material. Existing law also requires the social media platform to collect information reasonably sufficient to enable the platform to contact, as specified, a reporting user. Existing law defines child sexual abuse material for these purposes to include obscene matter that depicts a minor personally engaging in, or personally simulating, sexual conduct. This bill would revise the definition of child sexual abuse material to instead include an intimate visual depiction, as defined, of an identifiable individual who is a minor. The bill would additionally require the above-described mechanism to be clear and conspicuous, as defined, and would delete the requirement that the reporting user be depicted in the material. The bill would require a social media platform to, among other things, ensure review by a natural person if there is not an established or known hash match to child sexual abuse material with respect to the reported material and the reported material is not otherwise blocked. The bill would require a social media platform to restore availability or functionality of the reporting mechanism if the reporting mechanism is unavailable or nonfunctional. Existing law makes a noncomplying social media company liable to a reporting user for actual damages and statutory damages, as specified. This bill would instead make a social media company liable to a depicted individual, as defined, for actual and statutory damages, as provided. The bill would also impose specified civil penalties on a noncomplying company to be collected in a civil action by certain public attorneys, including the Attorney General. Existing law establishes the Survivor Support Fund within the state treasury and makes moneys in the fund available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for grants by the California Victim Compensation Board to community-based organizations that provide direct services to vulnerable individuals in areas with a high concentration of sex trafficking. This bill would require any penalty collected in a civil action by the Attorney General under these provisions to be deposited into the Survivor Support Fund. Existing law prohibits a social media platform from knowingly facilitating, aiding, or abetting commercial sexual exploitation, as defined. Existing law deems a social media platform to have knowledge for the purposes of this prohibition if material was reported to the social media platform using the reporting mechanism for 4 consecutive months, as provided. Existing law exempts a social media platform from being deemed in violation of this prohibition if it instituted a specified audit program and provided to each member of its board of directors a true and correct copy of each audit, as prescribed. This bill would remove the requirement that material was reported for 4 consecutive months to deem a social media platform to have knowledge for the purposes of the above-described prohibition. The bill would, in order to be exempt from that prohibition, require the social media platform to also submit the audit to the Attorney General, and if requested, to certain other public officials. The bill would provide that an audit submitted as described above is confidential and shall be exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act. This bill would declare its provisions severable. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Under existing law, the board of supervisors of any county may establish the office of public defender for the county and authorize reciprocal or mutual assistance agreements with boards of supervisors of other counties authorizing their respective public defenders to enter into reciprocal or mutual assistance agreements, or authorize reciprocal or mutual assistance agreements with the State Public Defender, if the public defender of the county is unable to perform public defender duties because of, among other reasons, lack of personnel, lack of expertise, or lack of other resources by the local office. Existing law, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, requires the State Public Defender, in consultation with the California Public Defenders Association and other subject matter experts, to undertake a study to assess appropriate workloads for public defenders and indigent defense attorneys and to submit a report with their findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than January 1, 2024. This bill would require the board of supervisors of each county to specify a contact person with the applicable oversight and to collect specified information on public defense services provided in the county, and report that data to the Office of the State Public Defender every 2 years beginning on January 1, 2029. Because the bill would require local officials to perform additional duties, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the Office of the State Public Defender to create and post on its internet website a summary report on public defense services, as specified. The bill would make its provisions operative upon appropriation by the Legislature for these purposes. 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law generally regulates the business of insurance in the state, including the conduct of insurance licensees, and provides for the issuance of bail licenses under the jurisdiction of the Insurance Commissioner. Existing regulations generally prohibit the solicitation of bail except after a bona fide request for bail services has been received from the arrestee or from another specified person. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor to impersonate certain personnel, including a law enforcement officer or an officer or member of a fire department, with the intent of fraudulently impersonating such a person, or of fraudulently inducing the belief that they are such a person. This bill, the Bail Consumer Protection Act, would make it a crime for any person to impersonate, or falsely hold themselves out to be, a licensed bail agent, and while doing so solicits or attempts to solicit bail from any individual. The bill would also make it a crime for any person to hire another person or company to solicit bail when the person knew or should have known that the other person or company is impersonating or falsely holding themselves out to be a licensed bail agent, and that other person or company solicits or attempts to solicit bail from any individual. 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 authorizes an employer or collective bargaining representative of an employee who has suffered harassment, unlawful violence, or a credible threat of violence from any individual, to seek a workplace violence restraining order on behalf of the employee and, at the discretion of the court, any number of other employees at the workplace or at other workplaces of the employer. Existing law authorizes one or more representative parties to bring suit for the benefit of a class of parties if the question is one of a common or general interest, of many persons, or when the parties are numerous, and it is impracticable to bring them all before the court. This bill would authorize an employer to seek a workplace violence restraining order on behalf of all employees at the employer's workplace or a location at which a group of employees perform their primary job duties if harassment, unlawful violence or a credible threat of violence is directed at that workplace or location. The bill would not require an employer to name any individual employee as a protected party if the employer seeks a workplace violence restraining order on behalf of all employees at the employer's workplace or a location at which a group of employees perform their primary job duties. This bill would require the Judicial Council, on or before January 1, 2028, to adopt or modify its forms, as specified. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 527.8 of the Code of Civil Procedure proposed by AB 2179 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2179 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 527.8 of the Code of Civil Procedure proposed by AB 1753 to be operative only if (1) this bill and AB 1753 are both enacted, (2) AB 2179 is not enacted or as enacted does not amend Section 527.8 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and (3) this bill is enacted last.
