Existing law, the Sexual Assault Victims' DNA Bill of Rights, expresses findings and declarations of the Legislature stating, among other things, that timely deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis of rape kit evidence is a core public safety issue affecting men, women, and children in this state. Existing law authorizes a law enforcement agency, upon the request of a sexual assault victim, to inform the victim of the status of the testing of the DNA rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence from the victim's case, as specified. If the agency does not analyze that evidence within 6 months of the statute of limitations for filing a criminal complaint in a sexual assault case, as specified, or if the agency intends to destroy or dispose of rape kit evidence or other crime scene evidence from an unsolved sexual assault case prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations, existing law requires that a victim of a sexual assault be informed of that fact or that intention. This bill would require the Department of Justice, on or before July 1, 2018, and in consultation with law enforcement agencies and crime victims groups, to establish a process by which victims of sexual assault may inquire regarding the location and information regarding their sexual assault evidence kits.
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(1) The Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act requires a mandated reporter, as defined and including an administrator or employee of a public or private organization whose duties require direct contact and supervision of children, to make a report to a specified agency whenever the mandated reporter, in his or her professional capacity or within the scope of his or her employment, has knowledge of or observes a child whom the mandated reporter knows or reasonably suspects has been the victim of child abuse or neglect. Under existing law, the failure to make this report is a crime. Existing law also prohibits a supervisor or administrator from impeding or inhibiting the reporting duties, provides that a person making the report shall not be subject to any sanctions for making the report, and prohibits internal procedures to facilitate reporting from requiring any employee required to make reports to disclose his or her identity to the employer. Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act (the act) , governs the licensing and regulation of community care facilities, as defined, including foster family agencies for children. Existing law vests responsibility for administering and enforcing laws and regulations governing those facilities in the State Department of Social Services. Existing law authorizes the department to prohibit a person from being a member of the board of directors, an executive director, or an officer of a licensee, or a licensee from employing, or continuing the employment of, or allowing in a licensed facility or certified family home, or allowing contact with clients of a licensed facility or certified family home by, any employee, prospective employee, or person who is not a client who has committed various acts or has been denied an exemption to work or to be present in a facility or certified family home, as specified. This bill would expand the definition of mandated reporter to include a board member of a public or private organization whose duties require direct contact and supervision of children, including a foster family agency. By imposing the reporting requirements on a new class of persons, for whom failure to report specified conduct is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also require the department to develop a notice regarding the reporting of complaints and would require the posting of that notice in all foster family agencies, as specified. The bill would require that if the department, as a condition of licensure, requires the chief executive officer or other authorized member of the board of directors and the administrator of a foster family agency to attend an orientation given by the licensing agency that outlines the applicable rules and regulations for operation of a foster family agency, that orientation shall include a description of policies, procedures, or practices that violate the provisions described above governing mandated reporters. The bill would require the department to take reasonable action, including, among other things, prohibiting a person from being a member of the board of directors, upon a finding of a violation of the provisions described above governing mandated reporters. (2) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 11165.7 of the Penal Code proposed by AB 1997 that would become operative if this bill and AB 1997 are chaptered and this bill is chaptered last. (3) 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 defines rape and spousal rape as an act of sexual intercourse accomplished under specified circumstances indicating a lack of consent, force, or duress, as specified. Existing law additionally makes various acts, including sodomy and oral copulation without consent or sexual intercourse with a minor, unlawful as sexual assault. This bill would state the findings of the Legislature that all forms of nonconsensual sexual assault may be considered rape for purposes of the gravity of the offense and the support of survivors and would state that this is declarative of existing law.
Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services to establish a protocol for the examination and treatment of victims of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault, including child molestation, and the collection and preservation of related evidence. Existing law provides failure to comply with this protocol does not constitute grounds to exclude evidence and prohibits a judge from instructing the trier of fact in a case that less weight be given to the evidence based on failure to comply. Existing law also establishes one hospital-based training center to train medical personnel on how to perform medical evidentiary examinations for victims of child abuse or neglect, sexual assault, and other similar crimes. This bill would require the Department of Justice's Bureau of Forensic Services, the California Association of Crime Laboratory Directors, and the California Association of Criminalists to work collaboratively with public crime laboratories, in conjunction with the California Clinical Forensic Medical Training Center, to develop a standardized sexual assault forensic medical evidence kit, as specified, to be used by all California jurisdictions. The bill would encourage those entities to collaborate and establish the basic components for a kit by January 30, 2018, and would require guidelines pertaining to the use of the kit's components to be distributed throughout the state by May 30, 2019. The bill would require every local and state agency to be responsible for its own costs in purchasing a kit. The bill would also provide that failure to use a kit does not constitute grounds to exclude evidence and prohibits a judge from instructing the trier of fact in a case that less weight be given to the evidence based on failure to comply.
Existing law provides a procedure for the appointment of a conservator for a person who is determined to be gravely disabled as a result of a mental disorder or an impairment by chronic alcoholism. Existing law authorizes certain persons to recommend conservatorship of an individual under his or her care to the officer providing conservatorship investigation in the county of the individual's residence, as specified. Existing law also provides for the establishment of a conservatorship for a person who is unable to properly provide for his or her personal needs or is substantially unable to manage his or her finances. This bill would authorize the court, if a conservatorship has already been established under the Probate Code, to refer the conservatee for an assessment by the local mental health system or plan to determine if the conservatee has a treatable mental illness, including whether the conservatee is gravely disabled as a result of a mental disorder or impairment by chronic alcoholism, and is unwilling to accept, or is incapable of accepting, treatment voluntarily. The bill would also require the court to appoint counsel to a conservatee if he or she cannot afford counsel. The bill would require the local mental health system or plan to file a copy of the assessment with the court that made the referral. By increasing county duties, 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, 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 these statutory provisions.
Existing law requires a school district, charter school, or private school that elects to offer an athletic program to comply with certain requirements relating to pupil safety, including, among other things, removing an athlete who is suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury from an athletic activity. This bill would create the Eric Paredes Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act and would require the State Department of Education to post on its Internet Web site guidelines, videos, and an information sheet on sudden cardiac arrest symptoms and warning signs, and other relevant materials relating to sudden cardiac arrest. The bill would require a pupil in any public school, including a charter school, or private school that elects to conduct athletic activities, and the pupil's parent or guardian, to sign and return an acknowledgment of receipt of an information sheet on sudden cardiac arrest symptoms and warning signs each school year before the pupil participates in an athletic activity, as specified. The bill would require an athletic director, coach, athletic trainer, or authorized person, as defined, to remove from participation a pupil who passes out or faints while participating in or immediately following an athletic activity, and would require a coach of an athletic activity to complete a sudden cardiac arrest training course every other school year. The bill would impose penalties, on and after July 1, 2019, for a violation of the provision requiring a coach to complete a sudden cardiac arrest training course, as specified. The bill would make the act's provisions operative on July 1, 2017.
Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to immediately suspend a person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle for a specified period of time if the person has been convicted of driving a motor vehicle when the person had a certain blood-alcohol concentration. Existing law authorizes certain individuals, whose privilege is suspended pursuant to that provision to receive a restricted driver's license if specified requirements are met, including the elapse of specified periods of license suspension or revocation. Existing law also requires the department to immediately suspend or revoke a person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle if the person has been convicted of violating specified provisions prohibiting driving a motor vehicle under the influence of an alcoholic beverage or drug or the combined influence of an alcoholic beverage and drug, or with 0.08% or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood or while addicted to the use of any drug, with or without bodily injury to another. Existing law authorizes certain individuals whose privilege is suspended or revoked pursuant to that provision to receive a restricted driver's license if specified requirements are met, including the elapse of specified periods of license suspension or revocation and, in some instances, the installation of an ignition interlock device on the person's vehicle. Existing law does not permit a person who has been convicted of a first offense of driving a motor vehicle under the influence, with injury, to receive a restricted driver's license. Existing law also requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to establish a pilot program from July 1, 2010, to July 1, 2017, inclusive, in the Counties of Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Tulare that requires, as a condition of being issued a restricted driver's license, being reissued a driver's license, or having the privilege to operate a motor vehicle reinstated subsequent to a conviction for any violation of the above offenses, a person to install for a specified period of time an ignition interlock device on all vehicles he or she owns or operates. Under existing law, the amount of time the ignition interlock device is required to be installed is based upon the number of prior convictions suffered by the individual, as prescribed. This bill would extend the pilot program in those counties until January 1, 2019. Effective January 1, 2019, and until January 1, 2026, the bill would make an individual whose license has been suspended for driving a motor vehicle when he or she has a certain blood-alcohol concentration and who is eligible for a restricted driver's license eligible for a restricted driver's license without serving any period of the suspension if the person meets all other eligibility requirements and the person installs an ignition interlock device. The bill would authorize that individual to install an ignition interlock device prior to the effective date of the suspension and would require the individual to receive credit towards the mandatory term to install an ignition interlock device, as specified. The bill would require the department to immediately reinstate the suspension of the privilege to operate a motor vehicle upon receipt of notification that a person has engaged in certain activities, including, among others, attempted to remove, bypass, or tamper with the ignition interlock device. The bill would also require, commencing January 1, 2019, and until January 1, 2026, a person who has been convicted of driving a motor vehicle under the influence of an alcoholic beverage, as specified, to install for a specified period of time an ignition interlock device on the vehicle, as ordered by the court, that is the vehicle that he or she operates. The bill would, commencing January 1, 2019, and until January 1, 2026, also authorize a person convicted of driving a motor vehicle under the influence, including a person who was convicted of a first offense of driving a motor vehicle under the influence, with injury, if all other requirements are satisfied, including the installation of an ignition interlock device, to apply for a restricted driver's license without completing a period of license suspension or revocation. The bill would require the department to, if a person maintains an ignition interlock device for the specified required time, reinstate the person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle at the time the other reinstatement requirements are satisfied. The bill would, commencing January 1, 2019, and until January 1, 2026, authorize a court to require a person convicted of a specified type of reckless driving to install a certified ignition interlock device on any vehicle that the person operates and prohibit that person from operating a motor vehicle unless that vehicle is equipped with a functioning, certified ignition interlock device for a specified period of time. The bill would require the Transportation Agency to issue a report to the Legislature by January 1, 2025, regarding the implementation and efficacy of these provisions. The bill would reinstate current law as described above as of January 1, 2026. The bill would also make conforming and clarifying changes. By specifying that certain crimes relating to ignition interlock devices apply when an ignition interlock device is installed pursuant to the provisions of this bill, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law establishes the Bureau of Electronic and Appliance Repair, Home Furnishings, and Thermal Insulation under the supervision and control of the Director of Consumer Affairs and requires the director to administer and enforce provisions relating to the registration of electronic and appliance repair service dealers. Existing law authorizes the director to deny, suspend, revoke, or place on probation the registration of a service dealer for any of certain acts, as specified. Existing law authorizes a service dealer licensed under these provisions to install, calibrate, service, maintain, and monitor ignition interlock devices. A violation of these provisions is punishable as a misdemeanor. Existing law, the Automotive Repair Act, establishes the Bureau of Automotive Repair under the supervision and control of the Director of Consumer Affairs and provides for the registration and regulation of automotive repair dealers. Existing law requires the bureau to adopt standards for installation, maintenance, and servicing of ignition interlock devices by automotive repair dealers, and existing regulations authorizes automotive repair dealers to install, maintain, and service an ignition interlock device. Existing law authorizes the director to deny, suspend, revoke, or place on probation the registration of an automotive repair dealer for certain acts, as specified. A violation of the act is a crime. This bill would authorize the director to issue a citation to, or suspend, revoke, or place on probation the registration of an automotive repair dealer or service dealer who installs, calibrates, services, maintains, or monitors ignition interlock devices if the automotive repair dealer or service dealer is not in compliance with specified provisions relating to payment for the costs of an ignition interlock device and would require an automotive repair dealer or service dealer to provide that information to an individual receiving ignition interlock device services. By expanding the definition of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require, commencing January 1, 2019, until January 1, 2026, an ignition interlock device manufacturer to be in compliance with specified provisions relating to payment for the costs of an ignition interlock device and would require those manufacturers to provide information to an individual who is required to install an ignition interlock device pursuant to a restricted driver's license. The bill would make a violation of those requirements subject to a civil assessment not exceeding $1,000, as specified. 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 requires the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident involving either injury to a person other than the driver, or the death of a person, to immediately stop and fulfill specified reporting requirements. Existing law provides that failure to fulfill those requirements is a crime. Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to immediately revoke the driving privileges of a person convicted of a violation of that provision. Existing law requires the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident involving only damage to property, or a person who parks a vehicle that becomes a runaway vehicle and damages property, to stop, as applicable, and fulfill specified reporting requirements. Existing law provides that failure to fulfill those requirements is a crime. Existing law authorizes a court to suspend the driving privileges of a person convicted of a violation of that provision for not more than 6 months. This bill would, commencing January 1, 2018, require a prosecutor who agrees to accept a plea of guilty or nolo contendere from a defendant for a charge of a violation of the latter provision described above in satisfaction of, or as a substitute for, a charge for a violation of the former provision to state on the record whether or not the accident in which the defendant was involved was one in which another person was injured. The bill would require the prosecutor's statement to occur prior to the defendant's waiver of the right to a jury trial. If the prosecution states for the record that the accident in which the defendant was involved was one in which another person was injured, the bill would require the judge to inform the defendant of the consequences described below. If the defense admits that another person was injured in the accident or stipulates to the prosecution's statement and the defendant waives his or her right to a jury trial as to that fact, the bill would require the court, upon accepting the defendant's plea of guilty or nolo contendere, to order the suspension of the defendant's driving privileges for a period of 6 months, the restriction of the defendant's driving privileges to employment purposes only, as specified, for no more than 6 months, or completion of community service, as the court deems appropriate. By changing the penalty for a 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.
The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law, including certain credits that are allowed in modified conformity to credits allowed by federal income tax laws. Federal income tax laws allow a refundable earned income tax credit for certain low-income individuals who have earned income from specified sources and who meet certain other requirements. The Personal Income Tax Law, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2015, in modified conformity with federal income tax laws, allows an earned income credit against personal income tax, and a payment from the Tax Relief and Refund Account for an allowable credit in excess of tax liability, to an eligible individual in an amount determined in accordance with federal law as applicable for federal income tax purposes for the taxable year, multiplied by the earned income tax credit adjustment factor, as specified. Existing law creates the Tax Relief and Refund Account, which is continuously appropriated, and provides that required payments to be made to taxpayers or other persons from the Personal Income Tax Fund are to be paid from that account, including amounts allowable as an earned income credit in excess of any tax liability. The Personal Income Tax Law provides that the amount of the credit is calculated as a percentage of the eligible individual's earned income and is phased out above a specified amount as income increases. Under existing law, the credit percentage and the phaseout percentage is based on the number of qualifying children of the eligible individual. Existing law provides, in modified conformity with federal income tax law, in the case of an eligible individual with 3 or more qualifying children, for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2016, the credit percentage and phaseout percentage is 45%, and for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2016, the credit percentage and phaseout percentage is the same as for an eligible individual with 2 or more children, which is 40%. This bill, for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2016, would instead provide that, in the case of an eligible individual with 3 or more qualifying children, the credit percentage and phaseout percentage is 45%, thereby increasing the credit percentage and the phaseout percentage for those eligible individuals for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2016. By increasing the allowable credit amount, this bill would authorize new payments from the Tax Relief and Refund Account for additional amounts in excess of personal income tax liabilities, thereby making an appropriation.
Existing law requires local educational agencies to provide certain documents to parents and post certain documents on an Internet Web site. This bill would require a local educational agency, as specified, or a person, firm, association, partnership, or corporation offering or conducting private school instruction at the elementary or high school level, as specified, that maintains an employee code of conduct with pupils to, commencing July 1, 2017, provide a written copy of the code of conduct to the parent or guardian of each enrolled pupil at the beginning of each school year and, commencing January 1, 2017, to post the code of conduct, or provide a link to it, on each of its schools' Internet Web sites, or, if a school of a local educational agency does not have its own Internet Web site, on the local educational agency's Internet Web site, in a publicly accessible manner. The bill would also provide that a local educational agency may satisfy the individual parent notification requirement by including a copy of the code of conduct with other specified notifications that are required at the beginning of the first semester or quarter of the regular school term.