(a) Each city, county, or city and county, that operates a jail, shall report twice each month to the department the name, known aliases, birth date, social security number, and expected released date, if known, of any person whose period of incarceration in jail has exceeded 30 days. The report shall not include names previously reported unless it is for a new period of incarceration.
(b) (1) The director may establish a uniform data format for the reporting of the data required to be reported in subdivision (a).
(2) The director shall reimburse each reporting entity, except for those entities seeking reimbursement pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code, at a rate of ten dollars for each unduplicated person reported pursuant to subdivision (a).
(3) The state may make payments to local entities pursuant to paragraph (1) or pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code only for a name previously reported by that entity if it is reported for a new period of incarceration.
(4) The director shall annually determine the program savings to the state that result from the reporting of names required by subdivision (a). The annual Budget Act may provide for reimbursement at a level below that provided in paragraph (2) if the savings are not sufficient to offset the cost of the reimbursements.
(c) The director shall distribute information received pursuant to subdivision (a) to departments of the state and federal government and to local agencies that administer public benefits for which incarceration affects eligibility, to ensure that public assistance payments and other public benefits are not paid to persons who are ineligible to receive those benefits based on incarceration, or whose absence from the household would result in a recalculation of the benefits of other members of the household. For the purpose of reports to federal agencies under this section, the local jail shall be considered the reporting institution.
(d) The director may suspend the reporting requirement established in this section if the director determines that data available from other sources provide timely information on the identity of jail inmates that will ensure that public assistance payments and other public benefits are not paid to ineligible persons.
(Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 205, Sec. 1. Effective July 22, 1996.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018