HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-07-13 - AGENDA REPORTS - SB 262 (2)Agenda Item: 5
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CONSENT CALENDAR
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
DATE: July 13, 2021
JU11 A' ?9,3
SUBJECT: STATE LEGISLATION: SENATE BILL 262
DEPARTMENT: City Manager's Office
PRESENTER: Masis Hagobian
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council adopt the City Council Legislative Committee recommendation to oppose Senate
Bill 262 (Hertzberg) and transmit position statements to Senator Hertzberg, Santa Clarita's state
legislative delegation, appropriate legislative committees, Governor Newsom, League of
California Cities, and other stakeholder organizations.
BACKGROUND
Authored by Senator Bob Hertzberg (D-18-Van Nuys), Senate Bill 262 waives monetary bail for
all misdemeanors and specific felonies, as outlined in the legislation.
Existing state law establishes that it is the duty of the Superior Court in each county to prepare,
adopt, and annually revise a uniform countywide schedule of bail for all bailable felony offenses
and for all misdemeanor and infraction offenses, except Vehicle Code infractions.
Additionally, state law provides that in setting, reducing, or denying bail, the presiding judge
shall take into consideration the protection of the public, the safety of the victim, the seriousness
of the offense charged, the previous criminal record of the defendant, and the probability of the
defendant appearing at the trial or hearing of the case. Public safety and the safety of the victim
shall be the primary considerations. A person may be released on their own recognizance with
the court's discretion, subject to the same factors considered in setting bail.
On August 28, 2018, Governor Brown signed Senate Bill 10 (Chapter 244, Statutes of 2018),
which repealed existing state law regarding monetary bail and required courts to establish and
conduct a non -monetary pretrial risk assessment, instead of a monetary bail system. A veto
referendum, Proposition 25 (2020), was placed on the November 3, 2020, General Election
ballot to repeal Senate Bill 10 (2018). A "yes" vote on Proposition 25 (2020) was to uphold
Senate Bill 10 (2018) and a "no" vote was to repeal the legislation. Senate Bill 10 was repealed
by voters, with approximately 56.41 percent of voters voting against Proposition 25 (2020).
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Senate Bill 262 waives bail for all misdemeanors and specific felonies, except the following
felony offenses:
• A "serious felony" or a "violent felony" as defined in existing law. This includes murder,
rape, lewd act on a child under 14 years of age, arson, attempted murder, robbery, assault
with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, kidnapping, and grand theft auto involving a
firearm;
• Attempts to deter or prevent an executive officer from performing their duties or
knowingly resisting an officer in the performance of their duties;
• Contempt of court for violation of a protective order;
• Preventing or dissuading a victim or witness from testifying in court through force or
threat of force;
• Spousal rape;
• Domestic violence offenses;
• A violation of a protective order if the detained person made threats to kill or harm, has
engaged in violence against, or has gone to the residence or workplace of, the protected
party;
• Felony criminal threats;
• Stalking;
• An offense which requires registration on the sex offender registry;
• Driving under the influence offenses;
• Felony looting;
• Being in possession of a firearm when prohibited due to a felony;
• Civil rights violations and hate crimes;
• Human trafficking;
• Willful harm or corporal punishment on a child;
• Elder and dependent adult abuse; and
• Assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury.
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The following are some misdemeanor or felony offenses that will no longer require bail, if this
bill is implemented:
• Shoplifting or grand theft, where the value of property stolen does not exceed $950;
• Forgery or fraud, where the value of the forged check does not exceed $950;
• Trespassing;
• Disturbing the peace;
• Personal use or possession of illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia;
• Public intoxication;
• Under the influence of a controlled substance;
• Loitering to commit prostitution;
• Resisting arrest;
• Procuring or paying for prostitution services; and
• Maliciously and willfully discharging a firearm at an occupied building or motor vehicle.
Senate Bill 262 passed the Senate (30-9-1) on May 26, 2021. Senator Scott Wilk (R-21-Santa
Clarita) voted against the bill and Senator Henry Stern (D-27-Calabasas) voted in support of the
bill. Senate Bill 262 is pending a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Public Safety, as of the
writing of this report.
Notable supporters include the Anti -Recidivism Coalition (Co -source), Californians for Safety
and Justice (Co -source), Western Center on Law & Poverty (Co -source), and City of Alameda.
Notable opponents include the California District Attorneys Association, California Peace
Officers Association, California Police Chiefs Association, and City of Cypress.
The City Council Legislative Committee met on June 22, 2021, and recommends that the City
Council adopt an "oppose" position on Senate Bill 262.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
1. Adopt a "support" position on Senate Bill 262.
2. Adopt a "neutral" position on Senate Bill 262.
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3. Take no action on Senate Bill 262.
4. Refer Senate Bill 262 back to the Legislative Committee.
5. Other direction, as provided by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
The resources required to implement the recommended action are contained within the City of
Santa Clarita's adopted FY 2021-22 budget.
ATTACHMENTS
Senate Bill 262 - Bill Text
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5.a
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 20, 2021
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 10, 2021
SENATE BILL
No. 262
Introduced by Senators Hertzberg and Skinner
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Bonta)
(Coauthors: Senators Bradford and Wiener)
January 27, 2021
An act to amend Section 1269b of, and to add Sections 1269d and
1302.5 to, the Penal Code, relating to bail.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 262, as amended, Hertzberg. Bail.
Existing law provides for the procedure of approving and accepting
bail, and issuing an order for the appearance and release of an arrested
person. Existing law authorizes specified sheriff, police, and court
employees to approve and accept bail in the amount fixed by the warrant
of arrest, schedule of bail, or order admitting to bail. Existing law
requires the superior courtjudges in each county to prepare, adopt, and
annually revise a uniform countywide schedule of bail, as specified.
This bill would require bail to be set at $0 for all offenses except,
among others, serious or violent felonies, violations of specified
protective orders, battery against a spouse, sex offenses, and driving
under the influence. The bill would require the Judicial Council to
prepare, adopt, and annually revise a Lail 3chzdulc €o�,hc ✓rxupt
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atrial 3iniply du;, to an inaliai an1cfant-Of bail in.
the stat idc 3d Mulc. statewide bail schedule. The bill would require
bail to be set according to the statewide schedule for any subsequent
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seperate offense while the defendant is released on bail that was set at
$0. The bill would require the court, prior to setting bail, to consider
whether nonfinancial conditions will reasonably protect the public and
the victim and reasonably assure the arrestee's presence at trial. The
bill would, if the court concludes that money bail is necessary, require
the court to consider the arrestee's ability to pay and to set bail at a
level the arrestee can reasonably afford. The bill would prohibit costs
relating to conditions of release on bail from being imposed on persons
released on bail or on their own recognizance. The bill would require
the sheriff, police, and court employees above to approve and accept
bail in the amount fixed by the bail schedule.
This bill would require the court to order a return of money or property
paid to a bail bond licensee by or on behalf of the arrestee to obtain bail
if the action or proceeding against the arrestee who has been admitted
to bail is dismissed, no charges are filed against the arrestee within 60
days of arrest, or the arrestee has made all court appearances during the
pendency of the action or proceeding against the arrestee, as specified.
The bill would authorize the bail bond licensee to retain a surcharge
not to exceed 5% of the amount paid by the arrestee or on behalf of the
arrestee. The bill would require the court to order this return of money
or property only for a bail contract entered into on or after January 1,
2022.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State -mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
1 SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2 following:
3 (a) The pretrial justice system in California is fundamentally
4 broken. Not only has it failed to achieve its stated objectives of
5 preventing recidivism and assuring court appearance, but it has
6 significantly eroded a sacred principle in our criminal justice
7 system: the presumption of innocence.
8 (b) California's high incarceration rate is a direct consequence
9 of our heavy reliance on pretrial detention. In 2015, the Public
10 Policy Institute of California reported that roughly 50, 000, or 62
11 percent, ofjail beds in California werefilled with inmates awaiting
12 trial or sentencing. According to a more recent report, 44,241
13 county jail inmates across California in 2020, approximately
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1 three-quarters of the state's total jail population, had not been
2 convicted of or sentenced for a crime.
3 (c) As the California Supreme Court has observed, the
4 consequences of pretrial detention on the accused and their
5 families are immense andprofound. Research suggests thatpretrial
6 detention heightens the risk of losing a job, a home, and custody
7 of a child. Time in jail awaiting trial may even be associated with
8 a higher likelihood of reoffending, beginning anew a vicious cycle.
9 (d) These consequences are intensified by California's money
10 bail system, which often keeps people incarcerated before trial
11 simply because they cannot afford to pay bail. Indeed, as the
12 California Supreme Court has adduced, the median bail amount
13 in California, roughly $50, 000, is more than five times the median
14 for the rest of the nation on average.
15 (e) A recent report published by the University of California,
16 Los Angeles, Bunche Center estimated that approximately 97
17 percent of people who make bail in California use a bail agent
18 and pay a nonrefundable fee to a private company in order to
19 secure their freedom. This is not a simple transaction because
20 people often have to borrow from friends and family, enter into
21 exploitativefinancing schemes, orputup theirproperty, even their
22 homes, as collateral. Arrestees unable to gather the funds are often
23 pressured into taking a plea without having a full and fair
24 opportunity to defend their case, or worse, when they are actually
25 innocent.
26 ()9 The money bail industry in California has evolved into a
27 predatory scheme that puts profits over people and does not
28 enhance public safety or improve court appearance rates.
29 According to the Public Policy Institute of California, despite
30 higher rates of pretrial detention compared to other states,
31 California, under the current system, still has lower court
32 appearance rates and higher rearrest rates.
33 (g) The California Supreme Court has noted that the excessive
34 pretrial detention that results from California's money bail system
35 forces the state to bear the cost of housing and feeding arrestees
36 that could be properly released. For instance, just six California
37 counties spent $37, 500, 000 over a two year period jailing people
38 who were never charged or who had charges dropped or dismissed.
39 (h) By shying from a system focused on pretrial detention to
40 one focused on pretrial release, outcomes could be vastly improved.
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1 Studies show that the cost of supervising a person in the community
2 pending trial is generally about 10 percent the cost of keeping
3 them in jail. Several jurisdictions across the country have
4 transitioned to release -based models that save taxpayers millions
5 of dollars without sacrificing public safety.
6 (i) Modern technology provides an array of valuable tools that
7 have already proven effective in the pretrial context, rendering
8 many current practices obsolete. For instance, recent research
9 suggests that simple text message reminders can significantly
10 improve court appearance. The pretrial system in the County of
11 Santa Clara, which relies on text message reminders, has
12 maintained a 95 percent court appearance rate for defendants
13 released before trial.
14 6) In March 2021, the California Supreme Court ruled that
15 conditioning freedom solely on whether an arrestee can afford
16 bail is unconstitutional, and that in setting bail, judges must
17 consider an arrestee's ability to pay.
18 (k) California should be a leader in enacting meaningful bail
19 reform that upholds the values of equal protection and due process
20 without compromising the safety of victims and the general public.
21 SECT49N i
22 SEC. 2. Section 1269b of the Penal Code is amended to read:
23 1269b. (a) The officer in charge of a jail in which an arrested
24 person is held in custody, an officer of a sheriff's department or
25 police department of a city who is in charge of a jail or is employed
26 at a fixed police or sheriff's facility and is acting under an
27 agreement with the agency that keeps the jail in which an arrested
28 person is held in custody, an employee of a sheriff's department
29 or police department of a city who is assigned by the department
30 to collect bail, the clerk of the superior court of the county in which
31 the offense was alleged to have been committed, and the clerk of
32 the superior court in which the case against the defendant is
33 pending shall approve and accept bail in the amount fixed pursuant
34 to this section in cash or surety bond executed by a certified,
35 admitted surety insurer as provided in the Insurance Code, to issue
36 and sign an order for the release of the arrested person, and to set
37 a time and place for the appearance of the arrested person before
38 the appropriate court and give notice thereof.
39 (b) If a defendant has appeared before a judge of the court on
40 the charge contained in the complaint, indictment, or information,
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1 the bail shall be in the amount fixed by the judge at the time of the
2 appearance, in accordance with subdivisions (c) and (d). If that
3 appearance has not been made, the amount of bail shall be fixed
4 pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d).
5 (c) Bail shall be set at zero dollars ($0) for all misdemeanor and
6 felony offenses except the following:
7 (1) A serious felony, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section
8 1192.7, or a violent felony, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section
9 667.5.
10 (2) A felony violation of Section 69.
11 (3) A violation of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section
12 166.
13 (4) A violation of Section 136.1 when punishment is imposed
14 under subdivision (c) of Section 136.1.
15 (5) A violation of Section 262.
16 (6) A violation of paragraph (1) of subdivision (e) of Section
17 243 or Section 273.5.
18 (7) A violation of Section 273.6 if the detained person made
19 threats to kill or harm, has engaged in violence against, or has gone
20 to the residence or workplace of, the protected parry.
21 (8) A violation of Section 422 where the offense is charged as
22 a felony.
23 (9) A violation of Section 646.9.
24 (10) A violation of an offense listed in subdivision (c) of Section
25 290.
26 (11) A violation of Section 23152 or 23153 of the Vehicle Code.
27 (12) A felony violation of Section 463.
28 (13) A violation of Section 29800.
29 (14) A violation of Section 422.6 or Section 422.7.
30 (15) A violation of Section 236.1.
31 (16) A violation of Section 273a or Section 273d.
32 (17) A violation of Section 368.
33 (18) A violation of paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section
34 245.
35 (d) (For all offenses listed in paragraphs (1) tom} (18),
36 inclusive, of subdivision (c), and for the purposes of subdivision
37 (e), the Judicial Council shall prepare, adopt, and annually revise
38 a schedule of bail amounts, which shall apply statewide.
39 du; Lc�gialature to enaet a rt v. ehangc3 to
40 ettff ew law-tv, xiauty that a defendant is no d;:Aain,,d paneling trial
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1 simply dtte-1; an inr&/.lit thz aru✓ant-Of bail in the
2 stat idz 3dhcdulz 3cot par3uant-`; paiugiul,1 (�}
3 (e) While released on bail for zero dollars ($0), bail for
4 subsequent separate offenses shall be set pursuant to the statewide
5 bail schedule established by Judicial Council pursuant to
6 subdivision (d), and subject to the provisions in subdivision (1).
7 This subdivision does not apply to those subsequent and separate
8 offenses that occur after the original offense is resolved.
9 (/) (1) Prior to setting bail for an offense listed in paragraphs
10 (1) to (18), inclusive, of subdivision (c), or for an offense pursuant
11 to subdivision (e), the court shall first consider whether
12 nonfinancial conditions will reasonably protect the public and the
13 victim and reasonably assure the arrestee's presence at trial.
14 (2) If the court concludes that money bail is reasonably
15 necessary to protect the public and the victim or reasonably assure
16 the arrestee's presence at trial, the court shall consider the
17 arrestee's ability to pay, and set bail at a level the arrestee can
18 reasonably afford.
19 (-e)
20 (g) The penalty schedule for infraction violations of the Vehicle
21 Code shall be established by the Judicial Council in accordance
22 with Section 40310 of the Vehicle Code.
23 ()
24 (h) In adopting a uniform statewide schedule of bail for all
25 offenses listed in paragraphs (1) tom} (18), inclusive, of
26 subdivision (c), the Judicial Council shall consider the seriousness
27 of the offense charged. In considering the seriousness of the offense
28 charged the judges shall assign an additional amount of required
29 bail for each aggravating or enhancing factor chargeable in the
30 complaint, including, but not limited to, additional bail for charges
31 alleging facts that would bring a person within any of the following
32 sections: Section 667.5, 667.51, 667.6, 667.8, 667.85, 667.9,
33 667.10, 12022, 12022.1, 12022.2, 12022.3, 12022.4, 12022.5,
34 12022.53, 12022.7, 12022.8, or 12022.9 of this code, or Section
35 11356.5, 11370.2, or 11370.4 of the Health and Safety Code.
36 (-g)
37 (i) The statewide bail schedule shall contain a list of the offenses
38 and the amounts of bail applicable for each offense. The Judicial
39 Council shall send a copy of the statewide bail schedule to the
40 presiding judge of each superior court, and the presiding judge
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5.a
1 shall provide a copy of the statewide bail schedule to the officer
2 in charge of the county jail, to the officer in charge of each city
3 jail within the county, and to each superior court judge and
4 commissioner in the county.
5 (-h)
6 6) (1) Upon posting bail, the defendant or arrested person shall
7 be discharged from custody as to the offense on which the bail is
8 posted.
9 (2) All money and surety bonds so deposited with an officer
10 authorized to receive bail shall be transmitted immediately to the
11 judge or clerk of the court by which the order was made or warrant
12 issued or bail schedule fixed. If, in the case of felonies, an
13 indictment is filed, the judge or clerk of the court shall transmit
14 all of the money and surety bonds to the clerk of the court.
15 (i)
16 (k) If a defendant or arrested person so released fails to appear
17 at the time and in the court so ordered upon their release from
18 custody, Sections 1305 and 1306 apply.
19 SEC. -2.
20 SEC. 3. Section 1269d is added to the Penal Code, to read:
21 1269d. Costs relating to conditions of release from custody
22 shall not be imposed on a person released on bail or their own
23 recognizance pursuant to this chapter.
24 SEC. 3
25 SEC. 4. Section 1302.5 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
26 1302.5. (a) The court shall order a return of money or property
27 paid to a bail bond licensee by or on behalf of the arrestee to obtain
28 bail under any of the following circumstances:
29 (1) An action or proceeding against an arrestee who has been
30 admitted to bail is dismissed.
31 (2) No charges are filed against the arrestee within 60 days of
32 arrest.
33 (3) The arrestee has made all court appearances during the
34 pendency of the action or proceeding against the arrestee.
35 (b) The bail bond licensee shall be entitled to retain a surcharge
36 not to exceed 5 percent of the amount paid by the arrestee or on
37 behalf of the arrestee.
38 (c) Money or property shall be returned pursuant to subdivision
39 (a) within 30 days of the court order issued pursuant to subdivision
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1 (a) and shall be to the entity or person who paid the money or
2 property to the bail bond licensee to obtain bail.
3 (d) A court shall order a return of money or property pursuant
4 to this section only for a bail contract entered into on or after
5 January 1, 2022.
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