Amended  IN  Assembly  June 14, 2023
Amended  IN  Senate  March 22, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 762

Introduced by Senator Becker

February 17, 2023

An act to amend Section 6030 of the Penal Code, relating to local correctional facilities.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 762, as amended, Becker. Local detention facilities: safety checks.
Existing law establishes the Board of State and Community Corrections and declares that the mission of the board is to provide statewide leadership, coordination, and technical assistance to promote effective state and local efforts and partnerships in California’s adult and juvenile criminal justice system consistent with the statewide goal of improved public safety through cost-effective, promising, and evidence-based strategies for managing criminal justice populations. Existing law requires the board to establish minimum standards for local correctional facilities, including the safety of incarcerated individuals, and to biennially review and make appropriate revisions to those standards.
This bill would require the board to revise those standards during the next regularly scheduled review to require a local detention facility to include a procedure for affirming that an incarcerated individual is alive during a safety check. By imposing additional requirements on local correctional facilities, 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.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

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


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Conditions in county jails should not cause undue great bodily harm or death to incarcerated individuals.
(b) The Board of State and Community Corrections should provide sheriff’s departments clear and consistent health, safety, and personnel training standards.
(c) Under current standards, county jails do not have specific enough direction from the board to be required to affirm that incarcerated individuals are alive and well during safety checks.
(d) The board’s health and safety standards should therefore include clearer instructions for adequate safety checks of incarcerated individuals within county jails, including, but not limited to, in-person hourly observations that affirm clear signs of life and wellness of those individuals.

SEC. 2.

 Section 6030 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

6030.
 (a) The Board of State and Community Corrections shall establish minimum standards for local correctional facilities. The board shall review those standards biennially and make any appropriate revisions.
(b) The standards shall include, but not be limited to, the following areas: health and sanitary conditions, fire and life safety, security, rehabilitation programs, recreation, treatment of persons confined in local correctional facilities, and personnel training.
(c) The standards shall require that at least one person on duty at the facility is knowledgeable in the area of fire and life safety procedures.
(d) The standards shall also include requirements relating to the acquisition, storage, labeling, packaging, and dispensing of drugs.
(e) The standards shall require that inmates who are received by the facility while they are pregnant be notified, orally or in writing, of and provided all of the following:
(1) A balanced, nutritious diet approved by a doctor.
(2) Prenatal and postpartum information and health care, including, but not limited to, access to necessary vitamins as recommended by a doctor.
(3) Information pertaining to childbirth education and infant care.
(4) A dental cleaning while in a state facility.
(f) The standards shall provide that a woman known to be pregnant or in recovery after delivery shall not be restrained, except as provided in Section 3407. The board shall develop standards regarding the restraint of pregnant women at the next biennial review of the standards after the enactment of the act amending this subdivision and shall review the individual facility’s compliance with the standards.
(g) In establishing minimum standards, the board shall seek the advice of the following:
(1) For health and sanitary conditions:
The State Department of Public Health, physicians, psychiatrists, local public health officials, and other interested persons.
(2) For fire and life safety:
The State Fire Marshal, local fire officials, and other interested persons.
(3) For security, rehabilitation programs, recreation, and treatment of persons confined in correctional facilities:
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, state and local juvenile justice commissions, state and local correctional officials, experts in criminology and penology, and other interested persons.
(4) For personnel training:
The Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, psychiatrists, experts in criminology and penology, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, state and local correctional officials, and other interested persons.
(5) For female inmates and pregnant inmates in local adult and juvenile facilities:
The California State Sheriffs’ Association and Chief Probation Officers’ Association of California, and other interested persons.
(h) (1) During the first regularly scheduled review of the standards required pursuant to subdivision (a) that occurs after January 1, 2024, the board shall update those standards to require a local detention facility to include a procedure for affirming that an incarcerated individual is alive and well during a safety check.
(2) The updated standards shall include clear instructions for adequate safety checks of incarcerated individuals within local detention facilities, including, but not limited to, in-person hourly observations that affirm clear signs of life and wellness of those individuals.

SEC. 3.

 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.