Amended  IN  Assembly  April 04, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill No. 812

Introduced by Assembly Member Chen

February 15, 2017

An act to amend Section 830.13 of the Penal Code, relating to local government. investigations.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 812, as amended, Chen. Counties: officers: auditor. Auditors: investigators.
Existing law authorizes persons employed as investigators of an auditor-controller or director of finance of any county or persons employed by a city and county who conduct investigations under the supervision of the controller of the city and county, as specified, to serve warrants and access criminal history information. Existing law authorizes specified persons to inspect a juvenile case file.
This bill would permit these investigators to inspect and copy juvenile case files when conducting an investigation within the scope of their duties if it is reasonably believed that the information contained in the juvenile case file may be relevant to an investigation of waste, fraud, or abuse, as specified.

Existing law establishes, among other offices of county government, the office of county auditor and prescribes the duties of the county auditor. Existing law requires that the county auditor or, in counties that have the office of controller, the auditor-controller be the chief accounting officer of the county.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would allow employees of the county auditor or county auditor-controllers’ office, as applicable, to investigate cases of alleged fraud and abuse by county employees.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NO   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 830.13 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

830.13.
 (a) The following persons are not peace officers but may exercise the power to serve warrants as specified in Sections 1523 and 1530 during the course and within the scope of their employment, if they receive a course in the exercise of that power pursuant to Section 832. The authority and power of the persons designated under this section shall extend to any place in the state:
(1) Persons employed as investigators of an auditor-controller or director of finance of any county or persons employed by a city and county who conduct investigations under the supervision of the controller of the city and county, who are regularly employed and paid in that capacity, provided that the primary duty of these persons shall be to engage in investigations related to the theft of funds or the misappropriation of funds or resources, or investigations related to the duties of the auditor-controller or finance director as set forth in Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 26880), Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 26900), Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 26970), and Chapter 4.6 (commencing with Section 26980) of Part 3 of Division 2 of Title 3 of the Government Code.
(2) Persons employed by the Department of Justice as investigative auditors, provided that the primary duty of these persons shall be to investigate financial crimes. Investigative auditors shall only serve warrants for the production of documentary evidence held by financial institutions, Internet service providers, telecommunications companies, and third parties who are not reasonably suspected of engaging or having engaged in criminal activity related to the documentary evidence for which the warrant is requested.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, persons designated pursuant to this section shall not carry firearms.
(c) Persons designated pursuant to this section shall be included as “peace officers of the state” under paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 11105 for the purpose of receiving state summary criminal history information and shall be furnished that information on the same basis as peace officers of the state designated in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 11105.
(d) Unless otherwise specifically provided, this section confers to persons designated in this section the same authority and power to serve warrants as conferred by Section 830.11.
(e) Notwithstanding any other law, including Sections 827 and 10850 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, a person described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), may access, inspect, and copy a juvenile case file, or portions thereof, in the same manner as the individuals listed in subparagraph (H) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 827 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, only when conducting an investigation within the scope of his or her duties, and when it is reasonably believed that information contained in the juvenile case file may be relevant to an investigation of waste, fraud, or abuse, which may include, but is not limited to, acts of misuse of personally identifiable information or protected health information, and only if prior notice is given to the director of the county child welfare agency and the county probation department. Juvenile case file information obtained pursuant to this subdivision may only be disclosed in the same manner as authorized by Section 827 of the Welfare and Institutions Code or to the appointing authority of the county child welfare agency or the county probation department for the purposes of taking corrective or disciplinary action, or to the district attorney.

SECTION 1.

It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would allow employees of the county auditor or county auditor-controllers’ office, as applicable, to investigate cases of alleged fraud and abuse by county employees.