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AB-1670 Criminal justice: Commission on Alternatives to Incarceration. (2021-2022)

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Date Published: 03/31/2022 09:00 PM
AB1670:v97#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  March 31, 2022
Amended  IN  Assembly  February 23, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1670


Introduced by Assembly Member Bryan
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Mayes)

January 19, 2022


An act to add Chapter 8.3 (commencing with Section 6150) to Title 7 of Part 3 of the Penal Code, relating to the Commission on Alternatives to Incarceration.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1670, as amended, Bryan. Criminal justice: Commission on Alternatives to Incarceration.
Existing law, generally, punishes the violation of serious felonies by incarceration in the state prison.
This bill would create the Commission on Alternatives to Incarceration within the California Health and Human Services Agency to study alternatives to incarceration, alternative crisis response models, and the effects of family separation in the jail and state prison systems.
The bill would require the commission to report its findings and make recommendations to the Legislature no later than February 1, 2024, as specified.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Chapter 8.3 (commencing with Section 6150) is added to Title 7 of Part 3 of the Penal Code, to read:
CHAPTER  8.3. Commission on Alternatives to Incarceration

6150.
 (a) There is hereby created within the California Health and Human Services Agency, the Commission on Alternatives to Incarceration.
(b) The duties of the commission are to research the following subjects and develop policy recommendations based on their findings:
(1) Alternatives to incarceration.
(2) Alternative crisis response models.
(3) Alternatives to youth incarceration.
(4) Reentry, including economic opportunity, housing, and social integration.
(5) Restorative justice practices and opportunities.
(6) Scope, magnitude, and long-term effects of family separation within the jail and state prison systems.

6151.
 The commission shall consist of 11 members, each whom shall serve a term of one year, appointed as follows:
(a) Three members appointed by the Governor.
(b) Four members appointed by the President pro Tempore of the Senate.
(c) Four members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
(d) The commission shall include three members composed of a mixture of local community-based, nonprofit service providers, community health, and mental health representatives, and two community representatives with lived experiences that reflect the demographics of people disproportionately incarcerated. The members described in this subdivision shall have proven ties to the community, as demonstrated by, but not limited to, participation and membership in local organizations, associations, and commissions, having been previously incarcerated, having experience as the family member of an incarcerated loved one, or having experience in a leadership capacity that reflects the diversity, including, but not limited to, racial, ethnic, cultural, socioeconomic, gender, or age, of the incarcerated population.
(e) The commission shall also include one representative from each of the following:
(1) The State Department of Public Health.
(2) The State Department of Social Services.
(3) The Department of Housing and Community Development.
(4) The State Building and Construction Trades Council of California.
(5) The Labor and Workforce Development Agency.

(6)Academia.

(6) Academia, who is a professor or PhD candidate who has studied or researched the linkage between incarceration and public health.

6152.
 (a) The commission shall convene no less than five times per calendar year. These meetings may be conducted virtually.
(b) Appointees described in subdivision (d), (d) of Section 6151, if they have a lived experience, shall be compensated with a daily rate of two hundred dollars ($200) for their participation in commission meetings. All other commissioners shall serve without compensation, and all commissioners, upon request, shall be entitled to reimbursement for reasonable and necessary travel expenses.
(c) The California Health and Human Services Agency, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and Board of State and Community Corrections shall, upon request, provide the commission with reasonable technical and administrative support and assistance.
(d) In developing the report, the commission shall convene with, and take input from, all relevant stakeholders, including, but not limited to, organizations that work on the issues outlined in subdivision (b) of Section 6150.

6153.
 (a) The commission shall, no later than February 1, 2024, prepare and submit a report to the Legislature summarizing its work and detailing its findings and recommendations.
(b) A report submitted pursuant to paragraph subdivision (a) shall be provided in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(c) The commission shall also provide a copy of the report to the Governor.
(d) The report shall be made available to the public and posted to the California Health and Human Services Agency’s internet website.