Existing law prohibits the disclosure of the home address of certain public employees and officials that appears in records of the Department of Motor Vehicles, except to a court, a law enforcement agency, an attorney in a civil or criminal action under certain circumstances, and certain other official entities.

This bill would extend that prohibition, subject to those same exceptions, to the disclosure of the home addresses of an adult abuse investigator or social worker working in protective services within a social services department.

Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON

Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair

2017 - 2018 Regular Session

SB 1093 (Jackson) - Department of Motor Vehicles: records: confidentiality

This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.

Bill Summary:

SB 1093 would add adult abuse investigators and social workers, as well as their spouses and children, to the list of persons who may request an additional level of confidentiality from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

Fiscal Impact:

• DMV estimates one-time costs of approximately $150,000 and minor and absorbable ongoing costs to handle manual data entry processing of confidentiality requests within the Confidential Records Unit. (Motor Vehicle Account)
  
• Potential reduction in state and local tolls, parking fees, and fines to the extent that current law makes it difficult for local parking and toll agencies to collect tolls and fines from additional persons protected by the enhanced confidentiality statutes.

Background:

All residence addresses in any DMV record are confidential and shall not be disclosed to any person, except a court, law enforcement agency, or other governmental agency, or as otherwise authorized under specified circumstances. The release of such confidential information is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and/or by up to one year in county jail. In addition to this protection, residential addresses of certain public employees, as well as their spouses and children, that are contained in DMV records are confidential, if the qualified person requests confidentiality of that information.

According to the Senate Committee on Public Safety analysis of this measure:

Vehicle Code section 1808.4 was added by statute in 1977 to provide confidentiality of home addresses to specified public employees and their families.

In 1989, Vehicle Code section 1808.21 was added to make all residence addresses contained within the Department of Motor Vehicle files confidential. Vehicle Code section 1808.21(a) states the following:

The residence address in any record of the department is confidential and cannot be disclosed to any person except a court, law enforcement agency, or other governmental agency, or as authorized in Section 1808.22 or 1808.23.

This section was further amended in 1994 to allow individuals under specific circumstances to request that their entire records be suppressed. Any individual who is the subject of stalking or who is experiencing a threat of death or great bodily injury to his or her person may request their entire record to be suppressed under this section.

Upon suppression of a record, each request for information about that record has to be authorized by the subject of the record or verified as legitimate by other investigative means by the DMV before the information is released.

A record is suppressed for a one-year period. At the end of the one year period, the suppression is continued for a period determined by the department and if the person submits verification acceptable to the department that he or she continues to have reasonable cause to believe that he or she is the subject of stalking or that there exists a threat of death or great bodily injury to his or her person.

DMV has long maintained that all residence addresses are suppressed and only persons authorized by statute can access this information.

Under sections 1808.4 and 1808.6 the home addresses of specific individuals are suppressed and can only be accessed through the Confidential Records Unit of the Department of Motor Vehicles while under section 1808.21, the residence address portion of all individuals’ records are suppressed but can be accessed by a court, law enforcement agency, or other governmental agency or other authorized persons.

Proposed Law:

This bill would add adult abuse investigators and social workers (and their families) to the list of individuals who may request the extra level of confidentiality of their home addresses that appear in DMV records.

Related Legislation:

SB 362 (Galgiani, 2017), SB 1131 (Galgiani, 2016), and SB 372 (Galgiani, 2015) were all identical to one another and would have provided code enforcement officers, parking control officers, and non-sworn investigators with the Department of Insurance with an extra level of confidentiality with respect to their home addresses in DMV records. These bills were held on the Suspense File of this Committee; SB 372 was amended subsequently to address an unrelated subject but never heard in its amended form.

AB 2687 (Bocanegra, Ch. 273, Stats. 2014) allows Licensing Program Analysts from the Department of Social Services to enroll in the DMV Confidential Records Program.

SB 767 (Lieu, 2014), which failed passage in the Assembly Transportation Committee, would have added code enforcement officers to those eligible to enroll in the DMV Confidential Records Program.

Over the past twenty years, a number of bills proposing to expand the statutory confidentiality list, including for code enforcement officers, have either failed in committee or have been vetoed.

Staff Comments:

The DMV Confidential Records Program is an unfunded program, meaning that there are no fees or revenue sources dedicated to fund the work required to add individuals to or update records in the program. As such, resources and workload associated with the program are funding from the department’s operating funding.

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SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY

Senator Nancy Skinner, Chair

2017 - 2018 Regular

Bill No: SB 1093 Hearing Date: April 10, 2018

Subject: Department of Motor Vehicles: Records: Confidentiality

HISTORY

Source: County Welfare Directors Association of California

Prior Legislation: SB 362 (Galgiani) Held in Senate Appropriations 2017

SB 1131 (Galgiani) Held Senate Appropriations 2016

SB 372 (Galgiani) 2015 this version held in Senate Appropriations

SB 767 (Lieu) (as amended in the Assembly) failed Assembly

Transportation, 2014

AB 2687 (Bocanegra) Ch. 273, Stats. 2014

AB 1270 (Eggman) failed Assembly Appropriations, 2013

AB 923 (Swanson) failed Assembly Appropriations, 2009

AB 529 (Lowenthal) failed Assembly Appropriations, 2009

AB 1958 (Swanson) failed Assembly Appropriations, 2008

AB 1311 (Berryhill) not heard Assembly Transportation, 2007

AB 1706 (Strickland) failed Assembly Transportation, 2005

AB 2012 (Chu) section amended out of the bill, 2004

AB 130 (Campbell) not heard Assembly Transportation, 2003

AB 246 (Cox) not heard Assembly Transportation, 2003

AB 1775 (Ortiz) no vote in Senate Public Safety, 2002

AB 84 (Hertzberg) Ch. 809, Stats. 2001

AB 1029 (Oropeza) Ch. 486, Stats. 2001

AB 151 (Longville) vetoed, 2000

AB 298 (Battin) held in Assembly Transportation, 2000

AB 1310 (Granlund) vetoed, 2000

AB 1358 (Shelley) Ch. 808, Stats. 2000

AB 1864 (Correa) held Assembly Appropriations, 2000

SB 171 (Knight) vetoed, 1998

AB 1941 (Bordonaro) Ch. 880, Stats. 1996

AB 191(Cannella) died in Sen. Committee on Criminal Procedure, 1996

AB 3033 (Baca) died in Sen. Committee on Criminal Procedure, 1996

AB 3391 (Ducheny) never heard, 1996

AB 688 (Frusetta) died in Sen. Committee on Criminal Procedure, 1996

AB 1396 (Poochigian) died in Sen. Committee on Criminal Procedure,

1996

AB 1931 (Conroy) Ch. 77, Stats. 1994

AB 3454 (Speier) Ch. 395, Stats. 1994

AB 3161 (Frazee) Ch. 838, Stats. 1994

AB 1268 (Martinez) Ch. 1268, Stats. 1993

AB 2367 (Polanco) Ch. 1291, Stats. 1993

SB 274 (Committee on Transportation) Ch. 1292, Stats. 1993

SB 602 (1992) Chaptered

AB 1779 (1989) Chaptered

Support: Amador County Department of Social Services; American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO; Butte County; City and County of San Francisco; Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors; Monterey County Department of Social Services; National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter; Nevada County Department of Social Services; Riverside County; San Diego County; San Francisco City and County; San Francisco Commission on Aging Advisory Council; San Francisco Human Services Agency; San Mateo County Board of Supervisors; Santa Clara County; Santa Cruz County Human Services Department; Solano County Health & Social Services; Sonoma County Human Services Department; Tehama County Department of Social Services; Ventura County Board of Supervisors; Yolo County

Opposition: None known

PURPOSE

The purpose of this bill is to add adult abuse investigators or social workers in protective services within a social service department to those who may request an additional level of confidentiality from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Under existing law the residential addresses of certain public employees and their families are confidential. (Vehicle Code §§ 1808.4 and 1808.6 - began in 1977.)

Existing law states that all residence addresses in any record of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) are confidential and shall not be disclosed to any person, except a court, law enforcement agency, or other governmental agency, or as authorized in section 1808.22 of the Vehicle Code. (Vehicle Code §§ 1808.21 - added in 1989.)

Existing law states that any person may seek suppression of any DMV registration or driver’s license record if he or she can show that he or she is the subject of stalking or a threat of death or great bodily injury. The suppression will be for a period of one year renewable for two more one year periods. (Vehicle Code § 1808.21(d).)

Existing law provides that the home address of specified persons which appear in the records of DMV is confidential upon the request of the person and that it not be disclosed except as specified. Included in the list of specified persons a child abuse investigator or social working in child protective services within a social services department. (Vehicle Code §§ 1808.4 and 1808.6.)

Existing law provides that the willful, unauthorized disclosure of this information as it relates to specified law enforcement (peace officers, employees of city police departments, and county sheriffs’ offices and their families) that results in the bodily injury to the individual or individuals whose specified information was confidential, is a felony. (Vehicle Code §§ 1808.4.)

Existing law provides that the release of such confidential information, for all other persons specified, is a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and/or by up to one year in a county jail. (Vehicle Code § 1808.45.)

This bill would add adult abuse investigator or social worker, working in protective services within a social services department to those who can request an additional layer of confidentiality from the DMV.

COMMENTS

1. Need for This Bill

According to the author:

The California Vehicle Code provides certain confidentiality protections for the personal information of individuals listed in DMV’s database. With this protection, an individual’s personal information can only be fully disclosed to courts, law enforcement, and government agencies, and can be disclosed on a more limited basis to financial institutions, insurance companies, attorneys, vehicle manufacturers and dealers, public utilities, and people performing statistical research.

Notwithstanding these protections, existing law permits an individual to seek the complete suppression of their DMV records for one year initially, and two additional one-year renewals if they provide documentation showing that they face threats of death or great bodily injury, or that they are being stalked. Since complete suppression of DMV records is provided on a limited time basis, there more than 20 categories of law enforcement and other public service workers who, due to the sensitive nature of their professions, warrant full DMV records suppression for duration of their careers.

APS social workers and investigators work with one of the state’s most vulnerable communities, assisting seniors and persons with disabilities who are experiencing, often at the hands of a family member or caregiver, emotional, physical or fiscal abuse. APS workers often receive threats and are stalked and intimidated by these same abusers -- simply for doing their jobs -- which severely impacts their ability to work effectively if they do not feel safe.

According to the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, social workers are among the most likely to experience a form of workplace violence, including threats and stalking. Multiple County Departments of Social Services have reported that a growing number of APS staff are being harassed and followed by alleged perpetrators of elder and dependent adult abuse, who are angry at their crimes being discovered and make the worker the target of their anger.

APS workers are regularly photographed by their client’s abusers, along with their license plates and cars, in an effort to intimidate these workers from protecting our elders and dependent adults.

Given the growing number of crimes committed against these vulnerable populations, and the important role APS workers perform in uncovering and investigating these crimes, it is critical that they are provided with enhanced confidentiality protections like other public servants in sensitive professions.

2. Background of DMV Confidentiality

Vehicle Code section 1808.4 was added by statute in 1977 to provide confidentiality of home addresses to specified public employees and their families.

In 1989, Vehicle Code section 1808.21 was added to make all residence addresses contained within the Department of Motor Vehicle files confidential. Vehicle Code section 1808.21(a) states the following:

The residence address in any record of the department is confidential and cannot

be disclosed to any person except a court, law enforcement agency, or other governmental agency, or as authorized in Section 1808.22 or 1808.23.

This section was further amended in 1994 to allow individuals under specific circumstances to request that their entire records be suppressed. Any individual who is the subject of stalking or who is experiencing a threat of death or great bodily injury to his or her person may request their entire record to be suppressed under this section.

Upon suppression of a record, each request for information about that record has to be authorized by the subject of the record or verified as legitimate by other investigative means by the DMV before the information is released.

A record is suppressed for a one-year period. At the end of the one year period, the suppression is continued for a period determined by the department and if the person submits verification acceptable to the department that he or she continues to have reasonable cause to believe that he or she is the subject of stalking or that there exists a threat of death or great bodily injury to his or her person.

DMV has long maintained that all residence addresses are suppressed and only persons authorized by statute can access this information.

Under sections 1808.4 and 1808.6 the home addresses of specific individuals are suppressed and can only be accessed through the Confidential Records Unit of the Department of Motor Vehicles while under section 1808.21, the residence address portion of all individuals’ records are suppressed but can be accessed by a court, law enforcement agency, or other governmental agency or other authorized persons.

3. The Department of Motor Vehicles

There have been a number of bills adding or attempting to add various public employees to the enhanced confidentiality provisions of the Vehicle Code.

According to a Senate Committee on Public Safety analysis for June 11, 1996 of AB 1941 (Bordonaro):

According to a letter dated June 9, 1995 from the Department of Motor Vehicles concerning related measures initially set for hearing last year (AB 191, AB 688,

AB 1396) on this issue, AB 1941 “is just one of four bills slated for the Criminal Procedure Committee hearing on June 13 which seek to include various professions within the category of confidential records that have historically been reserved for law enforcement personnel. When names are added to this special category, they cannot be accessed except through a telephone procedure utilized in one particular file security area in the DMV’s Sacramento headquarters location. Currently, we estimate that this file contains close to half a million individual records which must be manually entered and individually retrieved when access is authorized.

The DMV has stated that approximately 1000 requests for confidentiality of home addresses are made each week. The Confidential Records Unit of the DMV consists of 12 people and only two of these people review these forms to determine whether the individuals requesting confidentiality are in fact qualified to do so.

According to the DMV, a majority of these requests are granted due to the fact that the DMV restricts the release of the request forms to qualifying agencies and individuals only. The Confidential Records Unit of the DMV updated “5900 records in May 1995 and only 273 applications were rejected.”

4. Adult Abuse Investigators

Existing law includes child abuse investigators or social workers, working in child protective services within a social work department to those who can request the additional layer of confidentiality from DMV.

This bill would add adult abuse investigator or social worker, working in protective services within a social services department to those who can request an additional layer of confidentiality from the DMV.

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