208.1.
(a)
It is the intent of the Legislature that counties lacking adequate secure juvenile facilities should develop additional facilities rather than using the county jail or another adult facility to confine minors considered to be security risks pending criminal court proceedings for violent felonies. Therefore, counties are encouraged to establish local or regional secure juvenile facilities or to contract with other counties to confine minors charged with serious and violent crimes who are considered too dangerous for presently available juvenile facilities. This section is intended to provide interim relief, pending the development of additional secure juvenile confinement capacity, by authorizing the confinement of certain minors in adult facilities under controlled conditions, notwithstanding the provisions of Section 208.
(b)
A minor 16 years of age or older who is alleged to have committed any violent felony as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 667.5 of the Penal Code or any offense proscribed by subdivision (b) of Section 871 and whose case has been transferred to the jurisdiction of the criminal court under the authority of Section 707.1 may be delivered into the custody of the sheriff and may be detained in a jail or other secure facility for the confinement of adults under the conditions described in subdivision (c) if all of the following requirements are met:
(1)
During or after the fitness hearing, the juvenile court judge finds the following:
(A)
The minor’s further detention in the juvenile hall endangers the public, the staff, or other minors in the juvenile hall.
(B)
The minor will receive adequate care and protection in the jail or adult facility.
(C)
No other juvenile facility, including a facility in a nearby county or a Youth Authority facility, is available, suitable, or feasible given all of the circumstances.
(2)
The judge notes on the record and in the order of transfer that the minor is transferred pursuant to this section and that the minor may be detained by the sheriff in an adult facility, as provided in subdivision (c).
(3)
The order transferring the minor to the custody of the sheriff under this section is periodically reviewed by the juvenile court in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (d).
(4)
The sheriff has agreed, on a case-by-case basis, to accept transfer of the minor to a jail or secure facility under his or her control.
(c)
A minor delivered to the custody of the sheriff under this section may be allowed to come or remain in contact with adults in the jail or secure adult facility, if all of the following requirements are met:
(1)
No minor transferred to the custody of the sheriff under this section may be placed in the same cell with an adult prisoner unless no other cell or living arrangement within the jail or secure adult facility is available.
(2)
The sheriff accepting the transfer of the minor shall provide for the protection of the minor within the jail or secure adult facility in accordance with a written classification procedure that takes into account the age, maturity, and potential vulnerability of minors who may come into contact with adults within the facility.
(3)
If a minor is placed in the same cell with an adult, the minor shall be supervised in a manner that assures his or her safety and protection from physical or sexual assault or other predatory behavior by any adult within the facility. Supervision shall include personal and continuous visual observation of the minor when necessary to provide for the minor’s safety and protection.
(d)
In any case in which a minor has been transferred to the custody of the sheriff under this section, the juvenile court shall retain jurisdiction for the purpose of periodic review of the order of transfer of custody to the sheriff. The juvenile court shall periodically, but not less frequently than every 45 days, review the order of transfer of custody. At any review, the judge shall consider information that may be provided by the probation officer, the sheriff, the minor, or the minor’s attorney, as well as other information deemed relevant by the judge, on the issue of the appropriateness of the minor’s continued confinement in the jail or adult facility. The minor shall be returned to a juvenile facility unless the judge determines, based on the review, that there is good cause to continue the confinement of the minor in the adult jail or secure adult facility under the conditions described in subdivision (c). Either the minor, personally or by counsel, or the sheriff shall be entitled to have a review conducted in the form of a hearing at which he or she may present evidence on the issue of whether the jail or secure adult facility is an appropriate place for the continued confinement of the minor under the conditions described in subdivision (c).
(e)
No minor shall be transferred to a jail or secure adult facility under this section due to a lack of adequate staff at the juvenile facility. For purposes of this subdivision, “adequate staff” means compliance with staffing ratios established by the Department of the Youth Authority.
(f)
Detention in a jail or other secure adult facility as authorized by this section shall not occur prior to the filing of a criminal complaint.
(g)
A sheriff who controls a jail or adult facility to which a minor is transferred under this section shall report to the Board of Corrections any injury, sexual assault, or death that occurs to the minor within the jail or adult facility, including self-inflicted injury or suicide. The report shall describe the injury, sexual assault, or death and the surrounding circumstances and shall be made in writing to the Board of Corrections within 10 days of the occurrence of the injury, assault, or death.
(h)
This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 1998, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, which is enacted before January 1, 1998, deletes or extends that date.