(1) Existing law establishes the Office of the Inspector General, which is responsible for, among other things, contemporaneous public oversight of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation investigations and staff grievance inquiries conducted by the department’s Office of Internal Affairs. Existing law establishes within the office the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board, which consists of 11 members. Existing law requires the board, among other things, to regularly examine the various mental health, substance abuse, educational, and employment programs for incarcerated persons and parolees operated by the department.

This bill would repeal the provisions establishing the board and its responsibilities.

Existing law also requires the Inspector General to conduct an oversight and inspection program to periodically review delivery of the reforms identified in a specified document released by the department in 2012.

This bill would remove the requirement that the Inspector General conduct that oversight and inspection program. The bill would also make conforming changes.

Existing law requires the department to establish the California Reentry and Enrichment (CARE) Grant program to provide grants to community-based organizations that provide rehabilitative services to incarcerated individuals. Existing law requires the department to establish a CARE Grant program steering committee, which establishes grant criteria, select grant recipients, and determine grant amounts and the number of grants. Existing law requires the members of the committee to include, among others, a member from the Office of the Inspector General who is familiar with the work and objectives of the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board.

This bill would delete the provisions requiring a member from the Office of the Inspector General.

(2) Existing law establishes the Council on Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health within the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for the investigation and promotion of cost-effective approaches to meeting the long-term needs of adults and juveniles with behavioral health disorders who are likely to become offenders or who have a history of offending.

Existing law supports county activities that will divert individuals with serious mental illnesses away from the criminal justice system, as specified, and requires the State Department of State Hospitals to, among other things, consult with the council to evaluate county proposals to help fund the development or expansion of mental health diversion, as specified.

This bill would repeal the provisions that establish the council and make other conforming changes, including deleting the above-described requirement that the State Department of State Hospitals consult with the council to evaluate county proposals relating to mental health diversion.

(3) Existing law creates the Recidivism Reduction Fund in the State Treasury, to be available upon appropriation by the Legislature, for activities designed to reduce the state’s prison population, including, but not limited to, reducing recidivism. Existing law requires funds in the Recidivism Reduction Fund that were not encumbered by June 30, 2016, to revert to the General Fund and abolishes the fund when all encumbered funds are liquidated. Existing law requires, upon agreement to accept funding from the Recidivism Reduction Fund, a county board of supervisors, in collaboration with the county’s Community Corrections Partnership, to develop, administer, collect, and submit data to the Board of State and Community Corrections regarding a competitive grant program intended to fund community recidivism and crime reduction services, including, but not limited to, delinquency prevention, homelessness prevention, and reentry services. Under existing law, commencing with specified fiscal years, the funding was allocated to counties based on a specified schedule.

This bill would repeal the provisions mentioned above.

(4) Existing law establishes the Board of State and Community Corrections and sets forth its powers and duties, including, among other things, collecting and maintaining available information and data about state and community correctional policies, practices, capacities, and needs. Existing law, commencing January 1, 2013, and annually thereafter, requires the board to collect and analyze available data regarding the implementation of local plans relating to the 2011 Public Safety Realignment and other outcome-based measures, as specified. Existing law, by July 1, 2013, and annually thereafter, requires the board to provide a report on the implementation of those plans to the Governor and the Legislature.

This bill would delete the provisions requiring the board to collect and analyze data regarding the implementation of local plans, as specified, and to provide a report on the implementation of those plans to the Governor and the Legislature.

Existing law requires the Board of State and Community Corrections to conduct a biennial inspection of each jail, juvenile hall, lockup, special purpose juvenile hall, camp, ranch, or secure youth treatment facility, as specified. Existing law specifies that a juvenile facility is unsuitable for the confinement of juveniles if the facility is not in compliance with one or more of the minimum standards for juvenile facilities adopted by the board and the facility has failed to file an approved corrective action plan with the board. Existing law requires, if a juvenile facility does not resolve the noncompliance issues outlined in its corrective plan, the board to make a determination of suitability at its next scheduled meeting. Existing law prohibits the facility from being used to confine juveniles if it is not being operated and maintained as a suitable place for the confinement of juveniles.

This bill would authorize the board to delegate authority to approve or disapprove a corrective action plan to the board’s executive director or a deputy director. The bill would, if that authority is delegated, require the delegee to approve or disapprove the corrective action plan in accordance with criteria and considerations established by the board and require the board to subsequently ratify or overrule the corrective action plan. The bill would also authorize the board to bring a civil action to enforce compliance with minimum standards for juvenile facilities or closure in the superior court in the county in which a facility is located.

(5) Existing law requires the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to implement literacy programs in the state prison. Existing law requires the department to make college programs available for the benefit of inmates with a general education development certificate or equivalent or a high school diploma and requires those college programs to only be provided by the California Community Colleges, the California State University, the University of California, or other regionally accredited, nonprofit colleges or universities.

This bill would authorize those college programs to be provided by accredited public or nonprofit colleges or universities outside of the state, as specified.

Existing law requires an inmate who is enrolled, pursuant to these provisions, in a full-time college program consisting of 12 semester units, or the academic quarter equivalent, of credit-bearing courses leading to an associate degree or a bachelor’s degree to be deemed by the department to be assigned to a full-time work or training assignment.

This bill would instead require an inmate enrolled in a degree-granting college or university program, as specified, to receive the same privileges as an inmate with a full-time work or training assignment.

(6) Existing law requires any person employed or under contract to provide mental health diagnostic, treatment, or other mental health services in the state correctional system to be a physician and surgeon, psychologist, or other health professional, licensed to practice in this state, except as specified. Existing law authorizes the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to waive that requirement for persons in the professions of psychology or social work who are gaining qualifying experience for licensure in that profession in this state. For persons employed less than full time as psychologists or clinical social workers, existing law authorizes an extension of a waiver to be granted for additional years proportional to the extent of part-time employment, as provided, but prohibits the waiver from exceeding 6 years in the case of clinical social workers or 5 years in the case of psychologists.

This bill would additionally allow mental health professionals to be employed or under contract to provide mental health diagnostic, treatment, or other mental health services in the state correctional system. The bill would authorize the secretary to additionally waive that requirement for persons in the professions of marriage and family therapy or professional clinical counseling who are gaining qualifying experience for licensure in those professions. The bill would additionally authorize an extension of a waiver to persons employed less than full time as marriage and family therapists or professional clinical counselors and prohibit the waiver from exceeding 6 years for those professions.

(7) Existing law generally provides for the control and prevention of tuberculosis. Existing law requires various state entities, including the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, to meet and confer with recognized employee organizations, as specified, to develop rules regarding the mandatory examination or testing for tuberculosis of the staff of those entities. Existing law prohibits a person from being employed by the department unless that person, after an offer of employment, completes an examination, test, or medical evaluation and is found to be free of tuberculosis prior to assuming work duties. As a condition of continued employment with the department, existing law requires employees who are skin-test negative to receive an examination or test at least once a year, or more often if directed by the department, for as long as the employee remains skin-test negative. Existing law defines various terms for purposes of these provisions.

This bill would revise and recast the above-described provisions to require the department to develop rules regarding the mandatory examination or testing for tuberculosis of its staff, as specified. The bill would require a person who is employed by the department and whose primary job functions require them to work inside an institution to complete baseline TB screening and testing and provide a certificate to the department within seven days of appointment to their position showing they are free of active tuberculosis. The bill would require specified employees to receive annual TB screening and ensure that certificates are submitted and accepted by the department, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to require more frequent TB screening or testing, as specified, if there is a known exposure or ongoing transmission within an institution. The bill would delete obsolete definitions, update other definitions, and define additional terms, including “annual TB screening” and “baseline TB screening and testing.”

Existing law requires volunteers of the department, prior to assuming their duties and annually thereafter, to furnish the department with a certificate showing that they have been examined and found to be free of tuberculosis. Existing law requires employees from other state agencies who are assigned to work in an institution to comply with prescribed requirements for tuberculosis control and requires the department to offer examinations, tests, or medical evaluations to those employees. Existing law prohibits the department from discriminating against an employee because the employee tested positive for tuberculosis. Existing law requires specified state entities, including the department, to report to the State Department of Health Care Services the results of these tuberculosis examinations.

This bill would delete those provisions.

(8) Existing law defines those persons who are peace officers in the state, grants certain authority to those individuals and their employing entities, and places certain requirements on those individuals and their employing entities. Existing law also grants specified limited arrest authority to certain other persons, including federal criminal investigators and park rangers and peace officers from adjoining jurisdictions.

Existing federal law authorizes tribal governments to employ tribal police for the enforcement of tribal law on tribal lands. Existing federal law requires the State of California to exercise criminal jurisdiction on Indian lands. Existing state law deems a tribal police officer who has been deputized or appointed by a county sheriff as a reserve or auxiliary deputy to be a peace officer in the State of California.

This bill would, from July 1, 2026, until July 1, 2029, establish a pilot program under the Department of Justice and the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training granting peace officer authority to certain tribal police officers on Indian lands and elsewhere in the state under specified circumstances. The bill would authorize the department to select 3 tribal entities to participate, would set certain minimum qualifications and certification and training requirements for a tribal officer to act pursuant to this authority, and would place certain requirements on the employing tribe, including a limited waiver of sovereign immunity, and the adoption of a tribal law or resolution authorizing that exercise of authority and providing for public access to certain records. The bill would require the Department of Justice to provide ongoing monitoring and evaluation and to prepare and submit reports to the Legislature, as specified.

Existing law authorizes a county to establish an interagency domestic violence death review team to assist local agencies in identifying and reviewing domestic violence deaths, including homicides and suicides, and facilitating communication among various agencies involved in domestic violence cases. Under existing law, an oral or written communication or a document provided by a third party to a domestic violence review team is confidential and not subject to disclosure or discovery.

This bill would authorize a tribe participating in this pilot program to establish a domestic violence death review team subject to the applicable provisions of this law.

This bill would also authorize participating tribes to enter into an agreement to share liability and collaborate on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons cases.

This bill would create the Tribal Police Pilot Fund in the State Treasury to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, assist program participants with the cost of information technology necessary for complying with reporting requirements for law enforcement agencies.

This bill would provide for implementation of all of these provisions only upon an appropriation by the Legislature for these purposes.

(9) The bill would appropriate $5,000,000 for the 2025–26 fiscal year from the General Fund to the Department of Justice for purposes of administering the Tribal Police Pilot Program pursuant to Article 2.45 (commencing with Section 11073) of Chapter 1 of Title 1 of Part 4 of the Penal Code, as specified.

(10) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.