Sen. Cathleen Galgiani

(1) Existing law generally provides that the possession of ketamine, gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) , and flunitrazepam is a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year. This bill would make it a felony, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for 16 months, or 2 or 3 years, to possess ketamine, flunitrazepam, or GHB, with the intent to commit sexual assault, as defined for these purposes to include, among other acts, rape, sodomy, and oral copulation. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) 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 the Board of Parole Hearings or its successor in interest shall be the state's parole authority. Existing law requires that a prisoner who is found to be permanently medically incapacitated, as specified, be granted medical parole, if the Board of Parole Hearings determines that the conditions under which the prisoner would be released would not reasonably pose a threat to public safety. Existing law exempts a prisoner sentenced to death, a prisoner sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, and a prisoner who is serving a sentence for which parole is prohibited by initiative statute, from medical parole eligibility. Existing law authorizes a court to resentence or recall the sentence of a prisoner if the court finds that the prisoner is terminally ill, as specified, or the prisoner is permanently medically incapacitated, as specified, and, in either case, the conditions under which the prisoner would be released or receive treatment do not pose a threat to public safety. Existing law exempts a prisoner sentenced to death or a term of life without the possibility of parole from eligibility for compassionate release pursuant to these provisions. This bill would additionally exempt from medical parole eligibility and compassionate release eligibility a prisoner who was convicted of the first-degree murder of a peace officer or a person who had been a peace officer, as provided.

Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for a person who has knowledge of an accidental death to actively conceal or attempt to conceal that death. Existing law provides that the punishment for that offense is imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment. Existing law also sets forth various time limits to prosecute crimes. Except as otherwise specified, prosecution for an offense that is not punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison is required to be commenced within one year after commission of the offense. Existing law provides that for certain offenses, the prescribed limitation of time does not commence to run until the discovery of the offense. Existing law also provides that for other offenses, the criminal complaint may be filed within one year after the person is initially identified by law enforcement as a suspect in the commission of the crime, as specified. This bill would provide that for the offense of actively concealing or attempting to conceal an accidental death, as described above, a criminal complaint may be filed within one year after the person is initially identified by law enforcement as a suspect in the commission of the offense. This bill would incorporate changes to Section 803 of the Penal Code proposed by both this bill and SB 813, which would become operative only if both bills are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2017, and this bill is chaptered last.

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 authorizes victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, and reproductive health care services providers, employees, volunteers, and patients, to complete an application to be approved by the Secretary of State for the purposes of enabling state and local agencies to respond to requests for public records without disclosing a program participant's residence address contained in any public record and otherwise provides for confidentiality of identity for that person, subject to specified conditions. Existing law authorizes a program participant to request that state and local agencies use the address designated by the Secretary of State as his or her address, and requires state and local agencies, when creating, modifying, or maintaining a public record, to accept the address designated by the Secretary of State as a program participant's substitute address, except as specified. This bill would require the Secretary of State to provide each program participant a notice in clear and conspicuous font that contains specified information, including that the program participant is authorized by law to request to use his or her address designated by the Secretary of State on real property deeds, change of ownership forms, and deeds of trust when purchasing or selling a home. This bill, with certain exceptions, would prohibit a person, business, or association from publicly posting or displaying on the Internet the home address of a program participant who is a reproductive health care services provider, employee, volunteer, or patient and who has made a written demand to not disclose his or her address, and would prohibit a person, business, or association from knowingly posting the home address of a program participant, or of the program participant's residing spouse or child, on the Internet knowing that person is a program participant and intending to cause imminent great bodily harm that is likely to occur or threatening to cause imminent great bodily harm to that individual.

Existing law imposes various requirements to be satisfied prior to exercising a power of sale under a mortgage or deed of trust. Existing law gives a borrower, as defined, various rights and remedies against a mortgage servicer, mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, and authorized agent in regards to foreclosure prevention alternatives, as defined, including loan modifications, which is commonly referred to as being part of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights. Existing law defines a mortgage servicer as a person or entity who directly services a loan, or is responsible for interacting with the borrower, and managing the loan account on a daily basis, as specified. This bill until January 1, 2020, would prohibit a mortgage servicer, upon notification that a borrower has died, from recording a notice of default until the mortgage servicer does certain things, including requesting reasonable documentation of the death of the borrower from a claimant, who is someone claiming to be a successor in interest, who is not a party to the loan or promissory note and providing a reasonable period of time for the claimant to present the requested documentation. The bill would deem a claimant a successor in interest, as defined, upon receipt by a mortgage servicer of the reasonable documentation regarding the status of the claimant as a successor in interest and the claimant's ownership interest in the real property. The bill would require a mortgage servicer, within 10 days of a claimant being deemed a successor in interest, to provide the successor in interest with information about the loan, as specified. The bill would require a mortgage servicer to allow a successor in interest to assume the deceased borrower's loan or to apply for foreclosure prevention alternatives on an assumable loan, as specified. The bill would authorize a mortgage servicer, when there are multiple successors in interest who do not wish to proceed as coborrowers or coapplicants, to require any nonapplicant successor in interest to consent in writing to the application for a loan assumption. The bill would provide that a successor in interest, as specified, who assumes an assumable loan and wishes to apply for a foreclosure prevention alternative has the same rights and remedies as a borrower under specified provisions of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights. The bill would authorize a successor in interest to bring an action for injunctive relief to enjoin a material violation of specified provisions of law and would authorize a court to award a prevailing successor in interest reasonable attorney's fees and costs for the action. The bill would define terms for these purposes and make various findings and declarations. The bill would deem a mortgage servicer, mortgagee, or beneficiary of the deed of trust, or an agent thereof, to be in compliance with the above-described provisions if they comply with specified federal laws. The bill would exempt certain depository institutions and persons from these provisions, as specified.

Existing law, the Californians Against Sexual Exploitation Act, an initiative measure enacted by the approval of Proposition 35 at the November 6, 2012, statewide general election (CASE Act) , requires a person who is subject to the Sex Offender Registration Act (the Act) to list any and all Internet identifiers established or used by the person and any and all Internet service providers used by the person on his or her sex offender registration. The CASE Act requires a person subject to sex offender registration to send written notice of any addition of, or change to, an Internet identifier or Internet service provider to the law enforcement agency with which he or she is currently registered within 24 hours. Existing case law currently enjoins the application of the above provisions of the CASE Act through the imposition of a preliminary injunction on the grounds that these provisions violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The CASE Act allows its provisions to be amended by a statute in furtherance of its objectives passed in each house of the Legislature by a majority vote of the membership. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to amend the CASE Act to further its objectives. The bill would delete the requirement that a person subject to sex offender registration list on his or her sex offender registration all Internet service providers used by him or her. The bill would require a person who is convicted of a felony on or after January 1, 2017, that requires registration pursuant to the Act, and one or more specified circumstances, including that the person used the Internet to collect any private information to identify a victim of the crime to further the commission of the crime, to register his or her Internet identifiers, as defined, and to send written notice to the law enforcement agency or agencies with which he or she is currently registered within 30 days of establishing or changing an Internet identifier, as specified. The bill would require a law enforcement agency to which this information has been submitted to make the information available to the Department of Justice. The bill would require a designated law enforcement entity to only use an Internet identifier submitted pursuant to these provisions, or to release that Internet identifier to another law enforcement entity, for the purpose of investigating a sex-related crime, a kidnapping, or human trafficking. The bill would prohibit a designated law enforcement entity from disclosing or authorizing persons or entities to disclose an Internet identifier submitted pursuant to these provisions to the public or other persons, except as required by court order. Existing law makes a person who is required to register under the Act based on a misdemeanor conviction or juvenile adjudication who willfully violates any requirement of the act guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year. This bill would make a person who fails to provide his or her Internet identifiers, as required by the bill, regardless of the offense upon which the duty to register is based, guilty of a misdemeanor punishable in a county jail not exceeding 6 months. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make other technical, nonsubstantive changes. 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 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 Architects Practice Act provides for licensing and regulation of persons engaged in the practice of architecture by the California Architects Board, which is within the Department of Consumer Affairs, and defines the term "architect" for those purposes. That act requires an applicant for licensure as an architect to, among other things, take an examination. Existing regulations require an applicant for licensure to take the Architect Registration Examination. This bill would authorize a person to use the title "architect-in-training" while he or she is enrolled in the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards' Architectural Experience Program, as specified. The bill would prohibit the use of an abbreviation or derivative of that title and would prohibit a person from using that title to independently offer or provide services to the public. The bill would authorize the board to disclose a person's authorization to use that title to a member of the public upon request. The bill would provide that the use of that title in violation of these provisions may constitute unprofessional conduct and subject the user of the title to administrative action, including, but not limited to, citation. The bill would repeal this provision on January 1, 2020.