SB 447

Under current law, a person may be strip searched when he or she is arrested

for any felony, for certain misdemeanors, or for any misdemeanor or civil violation

if there is probable cause to believe that the person is concealing a weapon or

concealing something that would constitute evidence of the offense for which he or

she has been detained.

Current law requires that the person conducting the strip search is the same

sex as the person searched (detainee), unless the search is a body cavity search

conducted by a physician, physician assistant or registered nurse, that the detainee

be shielded from the view of any person not conducting the search, that the search

not be video or audio recorded, that the person conducting the search generally

obtains the prior written permission from the chief, sheriff, or law enforcement

administrator for his or her jurisdiction, and that the person conducting the search

prepares and provides to the detainee a written report that sets forth the details of

the search and its authorization.

Under current law, those requirements do not apply if the detainee is confined

as a condition of probation or to serve a sentence after a criminal conviction, if the

detainee is confined in a juvenile correctional facility or secured residential care

center, or if the detainee is committed, transferred, or admitted to certain mental

health facilities.

Under this bill, a person may be strip searched, subject to the requirements

imposed under current law, if he or she is arrested or otherwise lawfully detained by

law enforcement, and he or she will be incarcerated, imprisoned or otherwise

detained in a jail or prison with one or more other persons.