Article 2. Criminal Investigation of California Penal Code >> Title 1. >> Part 4. >> Chapter 1. >> Article 2.

In any crime of statewide importance, the Attorney General may, upon the request of any district attorney, sheriff or chief of police, assign to such officer so requesting, an investigator or investigators for the investigation or detection of crimes, and the apprehension or prosecution of criminals.

(a) The Attorney General may, upon the request of any district attorney, sheriff, chief of police, or other local, state or federal law enforcement official, make available to such official so requesting, the department's laboratory facilities and personnel and the department's technical experts, including but not limited to such personnel as fingerprint examiners, criminalists, document examiners and intelligence specialists for the purpose of assisting in the investigation of criminal matters, the detection of crimes and the apprehension or prosecution of criminals.
  (b) The Attorney General may, upon the request of any public defender or private defense counsel appointed by the court, make available to such public defender or such private appointed counsel, the department's laboratory facilities and personnel and the department's technical experts, including but not limited to such personnel as fingerprint examiners, criminalists, document examiners and intelligence specialists for the purpose of assisting in the representation by such public defender or private appointed counsel of persons in criminal proceedings. The Attorney General may contract with each county whose public defender or such private appointed counsel makes requests pursuant to this subdivision for the payment of the reasonable costs of time and material in making available information, services or facilities pursuant to this subdivision. No information, services or facilities shall be made available to such public defender or private appointed counsel unless the county so contracts with the Attorney General.
  (c) A copy of any information, including the results of any analysis, furnished by the Attorney General to a public defender, or private defense counsel appointed by the court, pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be sent to the district attorney of the county in which the public defender is located. If this subdivision or its application to any person or circumstance is invalid, subdivision (b) shall not be operative.
  (d) The Department of Justice may charge a fee for the laboratory services it performs.

The Department of Justice shall perform duties in the investigation, detection, apprehension, prosecution or suppression of crimes as may be assigned by the Attorney General in the performance of his or her duties under Article V, Section 13 of the Constitution.

For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this chapter, the investigators shall have all the powers conferred by law upon any peace officer of this State.

After the effective date of this chapter, and thereafter until the Governor finds and proclaims that an emergency no longer exists in preparing for the national defense, or whenever the United States is engaged in war, or whenever a war emergency has been declared to exist by the President of the United States, the Attorney General may appoint for the duration of the war or emergency, as the case may be, such additional special criminal investigators not to exceed nine in number as he deems necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter. There shall not be more than 15 such investigators employed at any one time. The employment of such investigators shall terminate not later than 90 days after the conclusion of peace or the official termination of the emergency by the President or the Governor.

No investigation of the acts or conduct of any state agency or state official shall be initiated or made through or by the bureau or any employee thereof, without the authorization of the Attorney General particularly specifying the office, department or person to be investigated and the scope and purposes of the investigation.

(a) There is within the Department of Justice the Foreign Prosecution and Law Enforcement Unit designated with the responsibility for assisting local law enforcement agencies with foreign prosecutions, child abduction recoveries and returns under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, and law enforcement investigative matters. The unit is also responsible for assisting local law enforcement in obtaining information from foreign officials on foreign prosecution matters.
  (b) The Foreign Prosecution and Law Enforcement Unit shall do all of the following:
  (1) For those countries having extraterritorial jurisdiction allowing for the prosecution of their citizens for crimes committed in California, the unit shall, upon request, provide informational assistance to local law enforcement on foreign prosecution protocols and provide technical assistance in preparing investigative materials for forwarding and filing in international jurisdictions. The unit shall provide information and assistance on the scope and uses of foreign prosecution to California prosecutors and law enforcement agencies. The unit shall be responsible for tracking foreign prosecution cases presented by California law enforcement agencies. The unit shall collect information on a statewide basis regarding foreign prosecution cases for the primary purpose of analyzing the information it collects and disseminating its conclusions to local law enforcement agencies. Local law enforcement agencies shall retain the authority to prepare and present foreign prosecution cases without the assistance of the unit.
  (2) The unit shall assist district attorneys in recovering children from Mexico, and, where appropriate, other countries either in court-ordered returns pursuant to the Hague Convention or voluntary returns.
  (3) The unit shall, upon request, assist local law enforcement agencies and foreign law enforcement in formal requests under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. The unit shall, upon request, also assist California law enforcement agencies and foreign officials in informal requests for mutual legal assistance.
  (4) The unit, under the direction of the Attorney General, shall provide information to local law enforcement on sensitive diplomatic issues.