AB 837

Under current law, a person who has been found to be a sexually violent person may be involuntarily committed to the Department of Health Services for control, care, and treatment. If a person is committed and placed in institutional care, the person may periodically petition the court for supervised release into the community. If a court determines that supervised release is appropriate, the court must order the person’s county of residence to submit a report that identifies one appropriate residence for the person. Current law prohibits the person from being placed in a residence that, at the time of placement, is less than 1,500 feet from any school, child care facility, park, place of worship, or youth center; less than 1,500 feet from a nursing home or an assisted living facility if the person committed a crime against an adult at risk; or adjacent to a property with a child’s primary residence if the person committed a serious child sex offense. DHS must use the county report to prepare a supervised release plan and submit it to the court. The court then must review the plan and, if it complies with all conditions, approve it.

Under this bill, when DHS submits the plan to the court, DHS must notify the county. Then, before the court approves the plan, the county must conduct an assessment of the residence to ensure that the residence still complies with the restrictions and make a report to the court upon completing the assessment.

Current law specifies that, when determining if a property is adjacent to a property with a child’s primary residence, public or private roads separating the properties are disregarded if the living quarters on each property are not more than 1,500 feet apart. This bill provides that alleys also be disregarded if the living quarters on each property are not more than 1,500 feet apart.