California SB 379

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. 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 ensure department vendors consider public safety in the placement of a conditionally released sexually violent predator and approve a potential placement before a department employee or vendor signs a lease or rental agreement for the placement of a sexually violent predator, as specified. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.