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Senate Bill 866 (Runner - 2007)
Chapter 8, Statutes of 2007, SB 866
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Appropriates $12.532 million from the General Fund to the Department of Mental Health for 2006-07 budget deficiencies related to the evaluation of sexually violent predators and administrative support of those efforts.
According to the bill's sponsor, the Department of Mental Health: "SB 866 would appropriate $12,532,000 to the State Department of Mental Health for the support of the Sex Offender Commitment Program (SOCP). The purpose of the bill is to provide funds to augment DMH's current year base budget to pay for the immediate and significant increase in the number of Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) clinical screenings, initial evaluations and court testimony during Fiscal Year 2006-07. This increase has been the result of the combined effects of implementing the provisions of SB 1128, Alquist (Chapter 336, Statutes of 2006) in September 2006 and the passage of Jessica's Law (Proposition 83) in November 2006.
"DMH administers the Sexually Violent Predator Commitment program under authority of Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC), Section 6600 et seq. This statute provides for referral of potential SVPs from CDCR to DMH for screening and evaluation. The additional funding will support the increased number of SVP screenings, evaluations, initial and recommitment court testimony, and recommitment update evaluations. In addition, the funding provides for necessary administrative support which includes hospital police officers to ensure public safety.
"The passage of SB 1128 and Jessica's Law has resulted in 3,737 cases referred by CDCR between November 2006 and March 2007. It is anticipated that the total referrals for the current fiscal year will be approximately 5,642.
"The number of referrals DMH has received from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) of inmates that could potentially meet the SVP criteria has turned out to be drastically higher than what was projected for Fiscal Year 2006-07. DMH cannot limit the number of CDCR inmate referrals or limit the number of clinical SVP evaluations that these referrals generate. Failure to complete an SVP evaluation on a qualifying inmate would result in CDCR having to release that inmate into the community on his or her scheduled discharge date.
"Finally, this bill would enhance public safety by ensuring that potential SVPs are not released into the community by CDCR due to a lack of resources by DMH for screening and evaluating referrals during the remainder of State Fiscal year 2006-07."