Article 2. Electronic Monitoring of California Penal Code >> Title 1. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 8. >> Article 2.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation may utilize continuous electronic monitoring to electronically monitor the whereabouts of persons on parole, as provided by this article.
  (b) Any use of continuous electronic monitoring pursuant to this article shall have as its primary objective the enhancement of public safety through the reduction in the number of people being victimized by crimes committed by persons on parole.
  (c) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this article to specifically expand the authority of the department acting pursuant to this article to utilize a system of continuous electronic monitoring that conforms with the requirements of this article.
  (d) (1) For purposes of this article, "continuous electronic monitoring" may include the use of worldwide radio navigation system technology, known as the Global Positioning System, or GPS. The Legislature finds that because of its capability for continuous surveillance, continuous electronic monitoring has been used in other parts of the country to monitor persons on parole who are identified as requiring a high level of supervision.
  (2) For purposes of this article, "department" means the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
  (e) The Legislature finds that continuous electronic monitoring has proven to be an effective risk management tool for supervising high-risk persons on parole who are likely to reoffend where prevention and knowledge of their whereabouts is a high priority for maintaining public safety.

The department may utilize a continuous electronic monitoring device, as distinguished from an electronic monitoring device as described in Section 3004, pursuant to this section that has all of the following attributes:
  (a) A device designed to be worn by a human being.
  (b) A device that emits a signal as a person is moving or is stationary. The signal shall be capable of being received and tracked across large urban or rural areas, statewide, and being received from within structures, vehicles, and other objects to the degree technically feasible in light of the associated costs, design, and other considerations as are determined relevant by the department.
  (c) A device that functions 24 hours a day.
  (d) A device that is resistant or impervious to unintentional or willful damage.

(a) A continuous electronic monitoring system may have the capacity to immediately notify the department of violations, actual or suspected, of the terms of parole that have been identified by the monitoring system if the requirement is deemed necessary by the parole officer with respect to an individual person.
  (b) This information, including geographic location and tampering, may be used as evidence to prove a violation of the terms of parole.

The department shall establish the following standards as are necessary to enhance public safety:
  (a) Standards for the minimum time interval between transmissions of information about the location of the person under supervision. The standards shall be established after an evaluation of, at a minimum, all of the following:
  (1) The resources of the department.
  (2) The criminal history of the person under supervision.
  (3) The safety of the victim of the persons under supervision.
  (b) Standards for the accuracy of the information identifying the location of the person under supervision. The standards shall be established after consideration of, at a minimum, all of the following:
  (1) The need to identify the location of a person proximate to the location of a crime, including a violation of parole.
  (2) Resources of the department.
  (3) The need to avoid false indications of proximity to crimes.

(a) The department, operating a system of continuous electronic monitoring pursuant to this section, shall establish prohibitions against unauthorized access to, and use of, information by private or public entities as may be deemed appropriate. Unauthorized access to, and use of, electronic signals includes signals transmitted in any fashion by equipment utilized for continuous electronic monitoring.
  (b) Devices used pursuant to this article shall not be used to eavesdrop or record any conversation, except a conversation between the participant and the person supervising the participant that is to be used solely for the purposes of voice identification.

(a) The department shall have the sole discretion to decide which persons shall be supervised using continuous electronic monitoring administered by the department. No individual shall be required to participate in continuous electronic monitoring authorized by this article for any period of time longer than the term of parole.
  (b) The department shall establish written guidelines that identify those persons on parole subject to continuous electronic monitoring authorized by this article. These guidelines shall include the need for enhancing monitoring in comparison to other persons not subject to the enhanced monitoring and the public safety needs that will be served by the enhanced monitoring.

A parole officer may revoke, in his or her discretion, the continuous monitoring of any individual.

Whenever a parole officer supervising an individual has reasonable cause to believe that the individual is not complying with the rules or conditions set forth for the use of continuous electronic monitoring as a supervision tool, the officer supervising the individual may, without a warrant of arrest, take the individual into custody for a violation of parole.

(a) The department may charge persons on parole for the costs of any form of supervision that utilizes continuous electronic monitoring devices that monitor the whereabouts of the person pursuant to this article. Inability to pay all or a portion of the costs of continuous electronic monitoring authorized by this article shall not preclude use of continuous electronic monitoring and eligibility for parole shall not be enhanced by reason of ability to pay.
  (b) Any person released on parole pursuant to subdivision (a) may be required to pay for that monitoring upon a finding of the ability to pay those costs. However, the department shall waive any or all of that payment upon a finding of an inability to pay. The department shall consider any remaining amounts the person has been ordered to pay in fines, assessments and restitution fines, fees, and orders, and shall give priority to the payment of those items before requiring that the person pay for the continuous electronic monitoring.

It is the intent of the Legislature that continuous electronic monitoring established pursuant to this article maintain the highest public confidence, credibility, and public safety. In the furtherance of these standards, the following shall apply:
  (a) The department may administer continuous electronic monitoring pursuant to written contracts and appropriate public or private agencies or entities to provide specified supervision services. No public or private agency or entity may operate a continuous electronic monitoring system as authorized by this section without a written contract with the department. No public or private agency or entity entering into a contract may itself employ any person who is a participant in continuous electronic monitoring surveillance.
  (b) The department shall comply with Section 1090 of the Government Code in the consideration, making, and execution of contracts pursuant to this section.

(a) A person who is required to register as a sex offender pursuant to Section 290 as a condition of parole shall report to his or her parole officer within one working day following release from custody, or as instructed by a parole officer to have an electronic, global positioning system (GPS), or other monitoring device affixed to his or her person.
  (b) A person who is required to register as a sex offender pursuant to Section 290 shall not remove, disable, render inoperable, or knowingly circumvent the operation of, or permit another to remove, disable, render inoperable, or knowingly circumvent the operation of, an electronic, GPS, or other monitoring device affixed to his or her person as a condition of parole, when he or she knows that the device was affixed as a condition of parole.
  (c) (1) This section does not apply if the removal, disabling, rendering inoperable, or circumvention of the electronic, GPS, or other monitoring device is performed by a physician, emergency medical services technician, or by any other emergency response or medical personnel when doing so is necessary during the course of medical treatment of the person subject to the electronic, GPS, or other monitoring device.
  (2) This section does not apply if the removal, disabling, rendering inoperable, or knowingly circumventing the operation of the electronic, GPS, or other monitoring device is authorized or required by a court, or by the law enforcement, probation, parole authority, or other entity responsible for placing the electronic, GPS, or other monitoring device upon the person, or that has, at the time, the authority and responsibility to monitor the electronic, GPS, or other monitoring device.
  (d) Unless the parole authority finds that in the interests of justice it is not appropriate in a particular case, upon a violation of subdivision (a), the parole authority shall revoke the person's parole and require that he or she be incarcerated in a county jail for 180 days.
  (e) Upon a violation of subdivision (b), the parole authority shall revoke the person's parole and require that he or she be incarcerated in a county jail for 180 days.