SB 1095: Fusion centers.

Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, creates, within the office of the Governor, the Office of Emergency Services, which is responsible for addressing natural, technological, or human-caused disasters and emergencies, including responsibility for activities necessary to prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of emergencies and disasters to people and property.

This bill would prohibit a fusion center from engaging in specified acts, including, among other things, law enforcement agency from participating in activity, cooperating, or disclosing or sharing information with any governmental entity, or a contractor for any governmental entity, that assists or furthers immigration enforcement unless pursuant to judicial warrant or court order, and providing office space for agencies engaged in immigration enforcement, as provided. a fusion center unless the elected governing body or council of the law enforcement agency, or governing board if no elected body exists, has entered into a written memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the fusion center. The bill would define fusion center to mean a state-owned center operated by the Office of Emergency Services and involving a law enforcement agency and a governmental entity that gather, analyze and share information, as provided. or operated by an executive board consisting of local, state, and federal members, that gathers, analyses, and shares information. The bill would require the MOU to provide, among other things, that information shall not be shared with an individual employed by or contracting with a federal immigration enforcement agency or for immigration enforcement purposes, except pursuant to a judicial warrant, and that a violation of its terms shall result in the termination of the MOU and the withdrawal of the law enforcement agency from participation in the fusion center, as provided. The bill would also require the local governing body or council, or the law enforcement agency if no governing body or council exists, to publicly post a signed copy of the MOU on its internet website. By imposing additional duties on local governments with respect to fusion centers, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.

This bill would authorize state and local elected officials and their accompanying staff to enter any fusion center for inspections, without prior notice or authorization. with 24 hours prior notice, as provided.

This bill would, starting on January 1, 2027, 2028, and each year thereafter, require the Office of Emergency Services every fusion center in California to submit a report to the Department of Justice that includes specified information collected from fusion centers, information, including, among other things, any policies and standards for the use and retention of data gathered, processed, or analyzed by fusion centers and a certification, under penalty of perjury, that the fusion center has not engaged in any acts intended to influence the decisions or assessments of the Department of Justice. By expanding the crime of perjury, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the Department of Justice to conduct an annual audit based on the report submitted by the Office of Emergency Services, and to submit that audit to the Legislature, as provided. the fusion center and detailed procedures for requesting and conducting site visits requested by elected officials and their staff.