In order to address the public health crisis described in Section 7500, it is the intent of the Legislature to do all of the following:
(a) Establish a procedure through which custodial and law enforcement personnel are required to report certain situations and may request and be granted a confidential test for HIV or for hepatitis B or C of an inmate convicted of a crime, or a person arrested or taken into custody, if the custodial or law enforcement officer has reason to believe that he or she has come into contact with the blood or semen of an inmate or in any other manner has come into contact with the inmate in a way that could result in HIV infection, or the transmission of hepatitis B or C, based on the latest determinations and conclusions by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the State Department of Public Health on means for the transmission of AIDS or hepatitis B and C, and if appropriate medical authorities, as provided in this title, reasonably believe there is good medical reason for the test.
(b) Permit inmates to file similar requests stemming from contacts with other inmates.
(c) Require that probation and parole officers be notified when an inmate being released from incarceration is infected with AIDS or hepatitis B or C, and permit these officers to notify certain persons who will come into contact with the parolee or probationer, if authorized by law.
(d) Authorize prison medical staff authorities to require tests of a jail or prison inmate under certain circumstances, if they reasonably believe, based upon the existence of supporting evidence, that the inmate may be suffering from HIV infection or AIDS or hepatitis B or C and is a danger to other inmates or staff.
(e) Require supervisory and medical personnel of correctional institutions to which this title applies to notify staff if they are coming into close and direct contact with persons in custody who have tested positive or who have AIDS or hepatitis B or C, and provide appropriate counseling and safety equipment.
(Amended by Stats. 2007, Ch. 483, Sec. 44. Effective January 1, 2008.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018