Corrections: supervision.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not provide specific details about mandatory supervision or the exact costs and funding mechanisms for local governments.

Rules for Supervision After Prison

This law changes rules about how people are supervised after they leave prison and sets a new time limit for court hearings when someone is found mentally incompetent in misdemeanor cases.

What This Bill Does

• It stops supervision authorities from making rules that keep people on parole or community supervision away from their family members unless the family member was hurt by the crime.
• If contact with a family member must be stopped, the authority has to write down why it's necessary for safety and rehabilitation reasons.
• It shortens the time limit for court hearings when someone is found mentally incompetent in misdemeanor cases.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who are on parole or community supervision after prison
• Courts

Terms To Know

Supervision authority

The group that oversees people on parole or community supervision.

Limits and Unknowns

• This law might require local governments to do more work, which could mean they need extra money from the state.
• The exact details about how much it will cost and who pays for these changes are not clear yet.

Official Summary Text

SB 396, as amended, Stern.
Criminal procedure: competence to stand trial.
Corrections: supervision.
Existing law requires prisoners sentenced to imprisonment in the state prison to serve time on parole or community supervision after their release from prison. Existing law authorizes courts to suspend the imposition or execution of punishments in specified criminal cases and instead enforce terms of probation or mandatory supervision.
This bill would prohibit a supervision authority, as defined, from imposing a condition of supervision that prohibits a person on supervision from being in contact with any family member. The bill would authorize the supervision authority to prohibit contact if the family member is a victim of the crime for which the person on supervision was convicted, and it is deemed necessary for public safety. The bill would require the
supervision authority prohibiting contact to provide a written explanation of why the public safety and rehabilitative benefits of prohibiting contact outweigh the rights to familial association, any rehabilitative benefits from contact, and any harms to either person from prohibiting contact. By increasing duties on local governments, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would exclude courts from the definition of a supervision authority.
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.
Existing law prohibits a person from being tried or adjudged to punishment while that person is mentally incompetent. Existing law establishes a process by which a defendant’s mental competency is evaluated and if the defendant is found incompetent to stand trial. Existing law, in the case of a misdemeanor charge in which the defendant is found incompetent, requires the court to hold a hearing to determine if the defendant is eligible for diversion within 30 days after the finding of incompetence. Under existing law, if the hearing is delayed beyond 30 days, the court is required to release the defendant on their own recognizance pending the hearing.
This bill would instead require that hearing to be held within 29 days and would require, if the hearing is delayed beyond 29 days, the court to release the defendant on their own recognizance pending
the hearing.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF