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SB-255 Courts: notification system.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 03/06/2023 09:00 PM
SB255:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Senate  March 06, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 255

Introduced by Senator Umberg

January 30, 2023

An act to add Chapter 16 (commencing with Section 1425) to Title 10 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, relating to courts.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 255, as amended, Umberg. Courts: notification system.
The California Constitution vests the judicial power of the state in the Supreme Court, courts of appeal, and superior courts, and establishes the Judicial Council to, among other things, adopt rules of court and perform functions prescribed by statute.
This bill would require the Judicial Council to develop and make available to each county court a court reminder program that allows the county court to send a text message to notify defendants of scheduled court appearances, as specified. The bill would require each law enforcement agency to collect the cell phone number of a person accused of a criminal offense upon citation or booking and transmit it to the county court in their jurisdiction. The bill would require each county superior court to submit specified data to the Judicial Council, and would require the Judicial Council to report that data to the Legislature annually. The bill would require the Judicial Council to convene an implementation oversight committee to, among other things, advise on the design of the system and identify barriers to implementation of the system. By imposing a new duty on local law enforcement agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NOYES  

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


SECTION 1.

 Chapter 16 (commencing with Section 1425) is added to Title 10 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, to read:
CHAPTER  16. Statewide Court Notification System

1425.
 (a) The Judicial Council shall develop and make available to each county court a court reminder program that allows the county court to send a text message to notify defendants of scheduled court appearances. The purposes of the program shall include all of the following:
(1) Reducing costs associated with defendants who fail to appear for a scheduled court appearance.
(2) Improving the efficiency of courts in this state.
(3) Reminding defendants to appear at each scheduled court appearance.
(4) Reducing the number of defendants who are confined in a county jail due solely to the defendant’s failure to appear for a scheduled court appearance.
(b) The program shall do all of the following:
(1) Be available to each county court at no cost.
(2) Comply with applicable state and federal laws requiring the consent of an individual before sending a reminder by text message.
(3) Provide text message reminders at least one week prior, three days prior, and on the day of the hearing, for each court appearance of a defendant who has access to a device with the technological capability of receiving text messages and provides the court administrator with an operational telephone number for the device.
(4) Include the technological capability to provide additional information to defendants concerning scheduled court appearances, including the location of the court appearance, available transportation options, and procedures for defendants who are unable to attend court appearances.
(5) Provide one or more publicly available internet websites through which defendants may request text reminders.
(6) Make reminders available in the state’s threshold languages.
(7) Require county courts to provide a text message reminder to a person accused of a criminal offense about their arraignment.
(c) Each law enforcement agency shall collect the cell phone number of a person accused of a criminal offense upon citation or booking and transmit it to the county court in their jurisdiction.

(c)

(d) All county courts shall participate in the court reminder program.

(d)

(e) Records generated by this program, including any contact information for the defendant, may not be used for any purpose other than for court date reminders without the defendant’s consent, unless that information is relevant evidence that is admissible under the standards described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (f) of Section 28 of Article I of the California Constitution.

(e)

(f) (1) The Judicial Council shall create a uniform mechanism for reporting the information that is described in paragraph (2). Each county Superior Court shall submit all required metrics to the Judicial Council no later than the 10th day of the month following the reporting period.
(2) The data required by the Judicial Council shall include, at minimum, all of the following items:
(A) The number of defendants with scheduled court appearances who have access to a device with the technological capability of receiving text messages and provide the court administrator with an operational telephone number for the device.
(B) Number of text message reminders sent.
(C) Number of defendants with scheduled court appearances who lack access to devices with the technological capability of receiving text messages.
(D) Number of defendants who fail to appear at scheduled court appearances after being sent one or more text message reminders.
(3) All data collected and reported pursuant to this subdivision shall be disaggregated by county.
(4) The Judicial Council shall send a report to the Legislature containing the data collected during the previous year pursuant to this subdivision on or before July 1, 2025, and annually thereafter.
(5) A report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (4) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(f)

(g) (1) The Judicial Council shall convene an implementation oversight committee to oversee the design and implementation of the statewide court reminder system.
(2) The implementation oversight committee shall be made up of 5 to 10 members chosen by the Judicial Council. Members shall, at minimum, include local or national experts on developing evidence-based court reminder programs.
(3) The implementation oversight committee shall be responsible for all of the following:
(A) Advising on the design of the court reminder system.
(B) Researching best practices for developing a court reminder system.
(C) Providing consultation on implementation and priorities for technical assistance.
(D) Identifying barriers to implementation and suggesting solutions to address those barriers.

(g)

(h) For purposes of this section, the term “threshold languages” means a language identified as the primary language, as indicated on the Medi-Cal Eligibility Data System, of 3,000 beneficiaries or 5 percent of the beneficiary population, whichever is lower, in an identified geographic area.

SEC. 2.

 If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.