Sen. Brian Jones

Existing law requires that a defendant be brought to trial within 60 days of arraignment on an indictment or information in a felony case, or within 30 or 45 days of arraignment or entry of plea in a misdemeanor case, as specified. Under existing law, the case must be dismissed if the defendant did not waive that time limit or consent to an extension of time, as specified, and the case is not brought to trial within the time limit. This bill would specify certain scenarios that would qualify as good cause to extend these deadlines, including, among other things, if a prosecutor or defense counsel is ill and the anticipated recovery period is shorter than the time it would take for a replacement to prepare for trial, as specified.

Existing law establishes the Board of State and Community Corrections. Existing law charges the board with providing the statewide leadership, coordination, and technical assistance to promote effective state and local efforts and partnerships in California's adult and juvenile criminal justice system. Under existing law, the board administers several grant programs, including a mentally ill offender crime reduction grant program, a medication-assisted treatment grant program, and a violence intervention and prevention grant program. This bill would establish two new grant programs until January 1, 2028: the Homeless and Mental Health Court Grant Program that would, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, be administered by the Judicial Council and provide grants to counties for the purpose of establishing or expanding homeless courts and mental health courts, as specified; and the Transitioning Home Grant Program that would, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, be administered by the board and provide grants to county sheriffs and jail administrators to fund programs aimed at reducing homelessness among inmates released from custody, as specified. The bill would require the board and council to prepare and submit reports to the Legislature, as specified, regarding the impacts of the grant program under their jurisdiction.

Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires state and local agencies to make their records available for inspection by the public, subject to specified criteria and with specified exceptions. Existing law exempts from disclosure any investigatory or security file compiled by any other state or local police agency, or any investigatory or security files compiled by any other state or local agency for correctional, law enforcement, or licensing purposes. Under existing law, criminal offenders sentenced to imprisonment in the state prison are sentenced for either a determinate term or an indeterminate life sentence, and a person sentenced to an indeterminate life sentence is held until release by the Board of Parole Hearings. Under existing law, a person sentenced to a determinate sentence is released after serving the term of their sentence, minus any credits earned, and is required to serve a period of time after release under parole supervision. Existing constitutional provisions, enacted by Proposition 57 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, make an inmate sentenced to state prison for a conviction of a nonviolent felony offense eligible for early parole consideration after completing the full term for their primary offense, as defined. This bill would provide that Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records pertaining to an inmate's release date and their early release credits are public records and are subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act. The bill would state that the provisions relative to the California Public Records Act are declaratory of existing law.

Existing law provides for the civil commitment of a person who is determined to be a sexually violent predator. Existing law establishes a procedure by which a person committed as a sexually violent predator may petition for conditional release and requires the court, if it makes a specified determination, to place the person on conditional release. Existing law generally requires that a person released on conditional release pursuant to these provisions be placed in the person's county of domicile prior to their incarceration unless extraordinary circumstances exist requiring placement outside the county, as specified. Existing law also prohibits the placement of a person released on conditional release within 14 mile of any public or private school, as specified. This bill would prohibit the placement of a person released on conditional release within 5 miles of federal land, as defined. 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 under specific circumstances, including when it makes a recommendation to the court for community outpatient treatment for a person committed as a sexually violent predator. This bill, 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 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.

Existing law authorizes the State Department of Health Care Services to, subject to an appropriation, establish a Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program. Existing law authorizes the department, pursuant to this program, to award competitive grants to qualified entities to construct, acquire, and rehabilitate real estate assets or to invest in needed mobile crisis infrastructure to expand the community continuum of behavioral health treatment resources to build or expand the capacity of various treatment and rehabilitation options for persons with behavioral health disorders, as specified. This bill would authorize the department, in awarding the above-described grants, to give preference to qualified entities that are intending to place their projects in specified facilities or properties. The bill would appropriate $1,000,000,000 from the General Fund to the department for the purpose of implementing the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program, for encumbrance during the 2023–24 to 2025–26, inclusive, fiscal years.

The Personal Income Tax Law imposes taxes on taxable income, as provided. Under existing law, every employer who pays wages to a resident employee for services performed either within or without this state, or to a nonresident employee for services performed in this state, is required to deduct and withhold from those wages, except as provided, for each payroll, a tax computed in an amount substantially equivalent to the amount reasonably estimated to be due under the Personal Income Tax Law. Under existing law, every employer required to withhold those taxes is required to, for each calendar quarter, file a withholding report, a quarterly return, and a report of wages in a form prescribed by the Employment Development Department, and pay over the taxes required to be withheld. This bill would authorize an employer to claim, for the 2023 and 2024 calendar years, a COVID-19 regulatory compliance credit in a specified amount. The bill would require the credit to be claimed on the employer's last quarterly return, as described, for the relevant calendar year. The bill would require any amount claimed by an employer to be credited against employee personal income tax withholding amounts required to be remitted to the department for the last quarter of the relevant calendar year. This bill would provide that its provisions do not change the amount of personal income taxes required to be withheld from employees and required to be reported to the employee, the department, the Franchise Tax Board, and the Internal Revenue Service. The bill would specify that its provisions do not require additional taxes to be paid by the employee or otherwise alter the employee's tax liability under the Personal Income Tax Law. The bill would state that it is the intent of the Legislature that the operation of the bill's provisions not require an appropriation of moneys by reducing moneys remitted by the employer to the department that would otherwise be deposited in the General Fund. This bill would authorize the department to adopt rules and regulations that are necessary or appropriate to implement the bill. The bill would repeal its provisions on December 1, 2025.

Existing law declares that the protection of the public interest in the development of the water resources of the state is of vital concern to the people of the state and that the state shall determine in what way the water of the state, both surface and underground, should be developed for the greatest public benefit. Existing law establishes within the Natural Resources Agency the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional water quality control boards. Existing law requires the work of the state board to be divided into at least 2 divisions, known as the Division of Water Rights and the Division of Water Quality. This bill would establish a statewide goal to increase above- and below-ground water storage capacity by a total of 3,700,000 acre-feet by the year 2030 and a total of 4,000,000 acre-feet by the year 2040. The bill would require the Department of Water Resources, in consultation with the state board, to take reasonable actions to promote or assist efforts to achieve the statewide goal, as provided. The bill would require the department, beginning July 1, 2027, and on or before July 1 every 2 years thereafter until January 1, 2043, in consultation with the state board, to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature on the progress made to achieve the statewide goal.

Existing law establishes the Natural Resources Agency, composed of departments, boards, conservancies, and commissions responsible for the restoration, protection, and management of the state's natural and cultural resources. Existing law establishes in the agency the Department of Water Resources, which manages and undertakes planning with regard to water resources in the state. This bill would require the agency, and each department, board, conservancy, and commission within the agency, to take all reasonable steps to approve the necessary permits for specified projects that meet certain employment conditions within 180 days from receiving a complete permit application. The bill would require the department, board, conservancy, or commission responsible for issuing a permit to post updates on its internet website for each permit application explaining how the permit approval process is progressing and the estimated time until the permit is approved.

This measure would designate the overcrossing on State Route 210 at Archibald Avenue in the City of Rancho Cucamonga as the Senator Bob Dutton Memorial Overcrossing. The measure would request that the Department of Transportation determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, erect those signs.

Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires state and local agencies to make their records available for inspection by the public, subject to specified criteria and with specified exceptions. Existing law exempts from disclosure any investigatory or security file compiled by any other state or local police agency, or any investigatory or security files compiled by any other state or local agency for correctional, law enforcement, or licensing purposes. Under existing law, criminal offenders sentenced to imprisonment in the state prison are sentenced for either a determinate term or an indeterminate life sentence, and a person sentenced to an indeterminate life sentence is held until release by the Board of Parole Hearings. Under existing law, a person sentenced to a determinate sentence is released after serving the term of their sentence, minus any credits earned, and is required to serve a period of time after release under parole supervision. Existing constitutional provisions, enacted by Proposition 57 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, make an inmate sentenced to state prison for a conviction of a nonviolent felony offense eligible for early parole consideration after completing the full term for their primary offense, as defined. This bill would provide that Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records pertaining to an inmate's release date and their early release credits are public records and are subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act, with specified exceptions. The bill would state that the provisions relative to the California Public Records Act are declaratory of existing law.