AB 449

Under current law, if a person is arrested for a domestic abuse crime and

commits a second domestic abuse crime (against the same victim or a different

victim) within 72 hours after being arrested for the first crime, the person's

maximum term of imprisonment for the second crime may be increased by up to two

years. Additionally, the penalty increase changes the status of the second crime from

a misdemeanor to a felony.

Current law generally requires a court to impose a domestic abuse surcharge

on a person who commits certain criminal acts against his or her spouse or former

spouse, against an adult with whom the adult person resides or formerly resided, or

against an adult with whom the adult person has created a child. This surcharge is

in addition to any other fines or terms of imprisonment.

Under this bill, the same increase in the term of imprisonment and the same

change from a misdemeanor to a felony also applies to a person who was convicted,

on two separate occasions, of a felony or a misdemeanor for which a court imposed

a domestic abuse surcharge during the ten-year period immediately prior to the

commission of the crime for which the person presently is being sentenced. Under the

bill, any time the person spent in jail or in prison does not count in computing the

preceding ten-year period.

Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime,

the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a

report concerning the proposed penalty and the costs or savings that are likely to

result if the bill is enacted.