AB 997: Exoneration: mental health services.

Existing law allows a person who was erroneously convicted of a felony and imprisoned in the state prison or a county jail to present a claim to the Victims Compensation Board for the injury sustained by the person through the erroneous conviction and imprisonment or incarceration. Existing law requires the board to provide a recommendation to the Legislature that an appropriation be made for the purpose of indemnifying the claimant for the erroneous conviction injury. Existing law requires that the amount of the appropriation recommended by the board be equivalent to $140 per day of incarceration served, and $70 per day served on parole or supervised release, as specified. Existing law requires that these amounts be updated annually to account for changes in the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index, West Region.

This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the board to reimburse an exonerated person, or provide direct payment to their provider, for mental health services reasonably related to their incarceration. The bill would require the board to reimburse a person incarcerated for 8 or more years for a period of no less than 2 years, reimburse a person, in addition to the amount contained in an approved claim, with specified amounts intended to be used for mental health services, and would prohibit the board from reimbursing a person for a period of time exceeding the amount of time they were incarcerated.