Today, the Senate Public Safety Committee unanimously approved Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones’ (R-San Diego) Senate Bill 379, called the “Sexually Violent Predator Accountability, Fairness, and Enforcement Act” (SAFE Act). The Committee also unanimously approved Leader Jones’ Senate Bill 380. The two measures aim to protect communities from Sexually Violent Predators (SVPs). Click here for the SB 379 factsheet, here for the SB 380 factsheet, and here for a landing page with more information about the SVP issue.
“We are thankful that the Senate Public Safety Committee understands the need to protect our communities from Sexually Violent Predators,” said Leader Jones. “Together, these bills are the first step towards fixing this broken and frightening predator release program.”
SB 379 aims to prevent the state from continuing to try to secretly dump SVPs in unsuspecting communities throughout the state with no regard for public safety. SB 379 is Jones’ fourth attempt with the SAFE Act.
Specifically, the SAFE Act would:
1. Require the Department of State Hospitals (DSH) to ensure their vendor, Liberty Healthcare, considers public safety in any potential placement of an SVP.
2. Require DSH to take ownership in the placement process by approving any placements BEFORE their vendor, Liberty Healthcare, can sign any leases for placement locations.
“We need Senator Jones’s bill to force Liberty Healthcare and the Department of State Hospitals to consider the public’s safety when choosing where to put these very dangerous sexually violent predators,” said Mary Jeters, a community advocate who testified as a lead supporting witness for SB 379.
Today, SB 379 passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee on a 6-0 vote, and now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration. The measure is similar to Leader Jones’s bipartisan SB 1074 from last year, his bipartisan SB 832 from two years ago, and his bipartisan SB 841 from three years ago.
“SVPs have committed crimes so heinous, I argue they should never be released from prison,” continued Leader Jones. “If the state is ordered by a court to release SVPs and has no choice but to do so, the state has the responsibility to do it in a manner that best protects the public. The SAFE Act will require transparency in the SVP placement process, force state officials to own up to these decisions, and make public safety a priority.”
Last week, SB 380 unanimously passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee on a 6-0 vote. The measure is currently in the Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration.
“State Hospital officials have repeatedly shirked their responsibility, allowing their vendor, East Coast-based Liberty Health Care, to target unsuspecting communities with little oversight,” said Leader Jones. “This reckless practice must end. Our SB 380 is a crucial first step toward ensuring SVPs are housed in state-run transitional facilities—not dropped into residential neighborhoods where they threaten public safety.”
SB 380 implements the recommendation from the California State Auditor to require DSH to conduct a feasibility study of utilizing Transitional Housing facilities for SVPs with conditional release. The auditor’s recommendation comes after Jones secured an audit of DSH and Liberty Healthcare’s handling of the SVP program.
“Let’s fix this broken release program once and for all,” concluded Leader Jones.
For more information on the SVP issue, please click here.