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SB-580 Animal abuse: probation: treatment.(2019-2020)



Current Version: 08/10/20 - Amended Assembly

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SB580:v96#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  August 10, 2020
Amended  IN  Senate  May 22, 2019
Amended  IN  Senate  May 17, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 580

Introduced by Senator Wilk
(Coauthors: Senators Bates and Hueso)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Boerner Horvath and Mathis)

February 22, 2019

An act to amend Section 597 of, and to add Sections 600.8 and 600.9 Section 600.8 to, the Penal Code, relating to animal abuse.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 580, as amended, Wilk. Animal abuse: probation: treatment.
Existing law makes it a crime to maliciously and intentionally maim, mutilate, torture, wound, or kill a living animal. If a defendant is granted probation for a conviction of this offense, existing law requires the court to order the defendant to complete counseling designed to evaluate and treat behavior or conduct disorders.
This bill would delete the requirement that a defendant granted probation complete counseling and would instead require a defendant convicted of specified offenses against animals and granted probation or a suspended sentence to undergo a psychological or psychiatric evaluation and to undergo any treatment that the court determines to be appropriate after considering the evaluation. to undergo a mental health evaluation by an evaluator chosen by the court. The court would require the defendant to complete mandatory counseling if, upon evaluation of the defendant, the mental health professional deems it necessary. The court would require the defendant to pay for the mental health evaluation and any subsequent treatment, but would authorize the court to establish a sliding fee schedule based on the defendant’s ability to pay. The bill would additionally make records related to this evaluation and treatment confidential, as specified.

The bill would also require the court, for a defendant granted probation or a suspended sentence for a conviction of specified crimes, to consider whether to order the defendant to complete a responsible animal owner education course, as specified.

Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.
This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Animal Cruelty and Violence Intervention Act of 2019.

SEC. 2.

 Section 597 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

597.
 (a) Except as provided in subdivision (c) of this section or Section 599c, a person who maliciously and intentionally maims, mutilates, tortures, or wounds a living animal, or maliciously and intentionally kills an animal, is guilty of a crime punishable pursuant to subdivision (d).
(b) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (a) or (c), a person who overdrives, overloads, drives when overloaded, overworks, tortures, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance, drink, or shelter, cruelly beats, mutilates, or cruelly kills an animal, or causes or procures an animal to be so overdriven, overloaded, driven when overloaded, overworked, tortured, tormented, deprived of necessary sustenance, drink, shelter, or to be cruelly beaten, mutilated, or cruelly killed; and whoever, having the charge or custody of an animal, either as owner or otherwise, subjects an animal to needless suffering, or inflicts unnecessary cruelty upon the animal, or in any manner abuses an animal, or fails to provide the animal with proper food, drink, or shelter, or protection from the weather, or who drives, rides, or otherwise uses the animal when unfit for labor, is, for each offense, guilty of a crime punishable pursuant to subdivision (d).
(c) A person who maliciously and intentionally maims, mutilates, or tortures a mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, or fish, as described in subdivision (e), is guilty of a crime punishable pursuant to subdivision (d).
(d)  A violation of subdivision (a), (b), or (c) is punishable as a felony by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170, or by a fine of not more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment, or alternatively, as a misdemeanor by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(e) (1) Subdivision (c) applies to a mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, or fish that is a creature described as follows:
(A) Endangered species or threatened species as described in Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code.
(B) Fully protected birds described in Section 3511 of the Fish and Game Code.
(C) Fully protected mammals described in Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 4700) of Part 3 of Division 4 of the Fish and Game Code.
(D) Fully protected reptiles and amphibians described in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 5050) of Division 5 of the Fish and Game Code.
(E) Fully protected fish as described in Section 5515 of the Fish and Game Code.
(2) This subdivision does not supersede or affect any law relating to taking of the described species, including, but not limited to, Section 12008 of the Fish and Game Code.
(f) For the purposes of subdivision (c), each act of malicious and intentional maiming, mutilating, or torturing a separate specimen of a creature described in subdivision (e) is a separate offense. If a person is charged with a violation of subdivision (c), the proceedings shall be subject to Section 12157 of the Fish and Game Code.
(g) (1) Upon the conviction of a person charged with a violation of this section by causing or permitting an act of cruelty, as defined in Section 599b, all animals lawfully seized and impounded with respect to the violation by a peace officer, officer of a humane society, or officer of a pound or animal regulation department of a public agency shall be adjudged by the court to be forfeited and shall thereupon be awarded to the impounding officer for proper disposition. A person convicted of a violation of this section by causing or permitting an act of cruelty, as defined in Section 599b, shall be liable to the impounding officer for all costs of impoundment from the time of seizure to the time of proper disposition.
(2) Mandatory seizure or impoundment shall not apply to animals in properly conducted scientific experiments or investigations performed under the authority of the faculty of a regularly incorporated medical college or university of this state.

SEC. 3.

 Section 600.8 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

600.8.
 (a) For a defendant who is granted probation or a suspended sentence for an offense specified in subdivision (b), the court shall consider whether to order the convicted person to undergo a psychological or psychiatric evaluation and to undergo any treatment, at the convicted person’s expense, that the court determines to be appropriate after due consideration of the evaluation. mental health evaluation by an evaluator chosen by the court. Upon evaluation, if the evaluating mental health professional deems it necessary, the defendant shall complete mandatory counseling as directed by the court. Mental health evaluations and any subsequent treatment shall be paid for by the defendant. If the court finds that the defendant is financially unable to pay for the evaluation and counseling, the court may develop a sliding fee schedule based on the defendant’s ability to pay. An indigent defendant may negotiate a deferred payment schedule, but shall pay a nominal fee if the defendant has the ability to pay the nominal fee. County mental health departments or Medi-Cal shall be responsible for the costs of counseling required by this section only for those persons who meet the medical necessity criteria for mental health managed care pursuant to Section 1830.205 of Title 9 of the California Code of Regulations or the targeted population criteria specified in Section 5600.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. The counseling specified in this section shall be in addition to any other terms and conditions of probation, including any term of imprisonment and fine.
(b) This section applies to a conviction for any of the following offenses:
(1) Section 286.5.
(2) Section 596.
(3) Subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 597.
(4) Paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 597.1.
(5) Section 597f.
(6) Subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 600.
(c) A finding that the defendant suffers from a mental disorder, and any progress reports concerning the defendant’s treatment, or any other records created pursuant to this section, shall be confidential and shall not be released or used in connection with any civil proceeding without the defendant’s consent.

SEC. 4.Section 600.9 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
600.9.

(a)For a defendant who is granted probation or a suspended sentence for an offense specified in subdivision (c), the court shall consider whether to order the defendant to complete a responsible animal owner education course described in subdivision (b).

(b)The responsible animal owner education course for offenses specified in subdivision (c) shall be one of the following:

(1)An online course approved by the State Department of Education.

(2)An online course approved for a similar purpose in another state.

(3)A live course sponsored by a municipal animal shelter, humane society, or society for the prevention of cruelty to animals (SPCA).

(c)This section applies to a conviction for any of the following offenses:

(1)Section 286.5.

(2)Section 596.

(3)Section 596.5.

(4)Subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 597.

(5)Paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 597.1.

(6)Subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 597.5.

(7)Section 597.6.

(8)Section 597.7.

(9)Section 597a.

(10)Section 597b.

(11)Section 597c.

(12)Section 597e.

(13)Section 597f.

(14)Section 597g.

(15)Section 597h.

(16)Section 597i.

(17)Section 597j.

(18)Section 597k.

(19)Section 597l.

(20)Section 597m.

(21)Section 597n.

(22)Section 597o.

(23)Section 597s.

(24)Section 597t.

(25)Section 597u.

(26)Section 597v.

(27)Section 597x.

(28)Section 597z.

(29)Section 599f.

(30)Subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 600.

(31)Section 600.2.

(32)Section 600.5.

SEC. 5.SEC. 4.

 The Legislature finds and declares that Section 3 of this act, which adds Section 600.8 of the Penal Code, imposes a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest:
In order to protect the privacy of defendants with respect to mental health evaluations and treatment, it is necessary that records of those evaluations and that treatment remain confidential.