Amended  IN  Assembly  March 09, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 818

Introduced by Assembly Member Petrie-Norris

February 13, 2023

An act to amend Section 30000 of the Penal Code, relating to firearms. Section 6383 of the Family Code, relating to protective orders.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 818, as amended, Petrie-Norris. Firearms: Prohibited Armed Persons File. Protective orders.
Existing law provides for temporary restraining orders or emergency protective orders with respect to domestic violence and elder abuse, as specified. Existing law requires that a temporary restraining order or emergency protective order issued under these provisions be served on the respondent at the request of the petitioner, whether or not the respondent has been taken into custody, by a law enforcement officer who is present at the scene of reported domestic violence involving the parties to the proceeding.
This bill would expand these provisions to require service of orders issued after hearing. The bill would also authorize these orders to be served by a law enforcement officer designated by their department to provide service on these orders when firearms or ammunition are at issue in the case. The bill would require specified peace officers to take into temporary custody any firearm or deadly weapon in plain sight or discovered pursuant to a consensual or otherwise lawful search for the protection of peace officers or other persons present when those officers are at the scene of a domestic violence incident involving a threat to human life or physical assault, serving a protective order pursuant to the above provisions, or serving a gun violence restraining order. By expanding the duties of local law enforcement, this 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.

Existing law requires the Attorney General to establish and maintain an online database, known as the Prohibited Arms Persons File, to cross-reference individuals who own or possess firearms after a specified date with individuals who may fall within a class of persons who are prohibited to do so.

This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to these provisions.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NOYES  

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


SECTION 1.

 Section 6383 of the Family Code is amended to read:

6383.
 (a) A temporary restraining order or order, emergency protective order order, or an order issued after hearing issued under this part shall, on request of the petitioner, be served on the respondent, whether or not the respondent has been taken into custody, either by a law enforcement officer who is present at the scene of reported domestic violence involving the parties to the proceeding. proceeding or who is designated by their department to provide service on these orders when firearms or ammunition are at issue in the case.
(b) The petitioner shall provide the officer with an endorsed copy of the order and a proof of service that the officer shall complete and transmit to the issuing court.
(c) It is a rebuttable presumption that the proof of service was signed on the date of service.
(d) Upon receiving information at the scene of a domestic violence incident that a protective order has been issued under this part, or that a person who has been taken into custody is the respondent to that order, if the protected person cannot produce an endorsed copy of the order, a law enforcement officer shall immediately inquire of the California Restraining and Protective Order System to verify the existence of the order.
(e) If the law enforcement officer determines that a protective order has been issued, but not served, the officer shall immediately notify the respondent of the terms of the order and where a written copy of the order can be obtained, and the officer shall, at that time, also enforce the order. The law enforcement officer’s verbal notice of the terms of the order shall constitute service of the order and is sufficient notice for the purposes of this section and for the purposes of Sections 273.6 and 29825 of the Penal Code.
(f) If a report is required under Section 13730 of the Penal Code, or if no report is required, then in the daily incident log, the officer shall provide the name and assignment of the officer notifying the respondent pursuant to subdivision (e) and the case number of the order.
(g) Upon service of the order outside of the court, a law enforcement officer shall advise the respondent to go to the local court to obtain a copy of the order containing the full terms and conditions of the order.
(h) (1) There shall be no civil liability on the part of, and no cause of action for false arrest or false imprisonment against, a peace officer who makes an arrest pursuant to a protective or restraining order that is regular upon its face, if the peace officer, in making the arrest, acts in good faith and has reasonable cause to believe that the person against whom the order is issued has notice of the order and has committed an act in violation of the order.
(2) If there is more than one order issued and one of the orders is an emergency protective order that has precedence in enforcement pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 136.2 of the Penal Code, the peace officer shall enforce the emergency protective order. If there is more than one order issued, none of the orders issued is an emergency protective order that has precedence in enforcement, and one of the orders issued is a no-contact order, as described in Section 6320, the peace officer shall enforce the no-contact order. If there is more than one civil order regarding the same parties and neither an emergency protective order that has precedence in enforcement nor a no-contact order has been issued, the peace officer shall enforce the order that was issued last. If there are both civil and criminal orders regarding the same parties and neither an emergency protective order that has precedence in enforcement nor a no-contact order has been issued, the peace officer shall enforce the criminal order issued last, subject to the provisions of subdivisions (h) and (i) of Section 136.2 of the Penal Code. This section does not exonerate a peace officer from liability for the unreasonable use of force in the enforcement of the order. The immunities afforded by this section shall not affect the availability of any other immunity that may apply, including, but not limited to, Sections 820.2 and 820.4 of the Government Code.
(i) A peace officer listed in Section 18250 of the Penal Code shall take temporary custody of any firearm or other deadly weapon in plain sight or discovered pursuant to a consensual or otherwise lawful search as necessary for the protection of the peace officer or other persons present in any of the following circumstances:
(1) The peace officer is at the scene of a domestic violence incident involving a threat to human life or a physical assault.
(2) The peace officer is serving a protective order issued pursuant to this part.
(3) The peace officer is serving a gun violence restraining order issued pursuant to Division 3.2 (commencing with Section 18100) of Title 2 of Part 6 of the Penal Code.

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.
SECTION 1.Section 30000 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
30000.

(a)The Attorney General shall establish and maintain an online database to be known as the Prohibited Armed Persons File. The purpose of the file is to cross-reference persons who have ownership or possession of a firearm on or after January 1, 1996, as indicated by a record in the Consolidated Firearms Information System, and who, after the date of that ownership or possession of a firearm, fall within a class of persons who are prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm.

(b)Except as provided in subdivision (c), the information contained in the Prohibited Armed Persons File shall only be available to those entities specified in, and pursuant to, subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 11105, through the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, for the purpose of determining if persons are armed and prohibited from possessing firearms.

(c)The information contained in the Prohibited Armed Persons File shall be available to researchers affiliated with the California Firearm Violence Research Center at UC Davis following approval by the institution’s governing institutional review board, when required. At the department’s discretion, and subject to Section 14240, the data may be provided to any other nonprofit bona fide research institution accredited by the United States Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation for the study of the prevention of violence, following approval by the institution’s governing institutional review board or human subjects committee, when required, for academic and policy research purposes. Material identifying individuals shall only be provided for research or statistical activities and shall not be transferred, revealed, or used for purposes other than research or statistical activities, and reports or publications derived therefrom shall not identify specific individuals. Reasonable costs to the department associated with the department’s processing of that data may be billed to the researcher. If a request for data or letter of support for research using the data is denied, the department shall provide a written statement of the specific reasons for the denial.