Today, Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego) announced his Senate Bill 380 has been signed into law by the governor and will take effect immediately.
The bill directs the Department of State Hospitals to investigate placing sexually violent predators in state-run transitional housing facilities upon release. Current practice allows them to be conditionally released into the community, where they pose a risk to the public safety.
“This bill’s signing is a big win for communities like mine that’ve been treated as dumping grounds for these violent predators and I thank the governor for recognizing this serious issue was in dire need of redress,” said Jones. “Finally, the state will be forced to stop shirking its responsibility to protect the public and to take a serious look at alternative options for housing these threats.”
Supported by a coalition of local government, law enforcement and victims’ advocacy groups, SB 380 implements a recommendation from the California State Auditor’s Office for the Department of State Hospitals to study the feasibility of transitional housing for sexually violent predators out on conditional release.
The auditor’s recommendation came after Jones secured an audit of the state’s handling of the conditional release program. The department refused to implement the recommendation on its own, requiring legislative action.
“This new law is a battle won against a state agency that has repeatedly ignored calls from the public, elected officials and the state auditor to fix this very broken system,” said Jones. “Families in our neighborhoods should not have to live in fear wondering if any day, the state might drop in a new neighbor with a proven penchant for sexual predation.”
Different from most new laws which take effect January 1, Jones drafted SB 380 to include an urgency clause, stipulating that it take effect immediately upon the governor’s signing.
“This is the definition of an urgent issue, and we need to get this solved now, not in January or some later date off into the future,” said Jones. “With the governor’s signature, the department must immediately begin their investigation into housing these SVPs in state-run transitional housing rather than dropping them like bombs into our communities.”
For more information on the SVP issue, please click here.