CALCASA’s Sex Offender Management Board Signed by Governor

September 20, 2006 |
Robert Coombs

In a busy day for sex offender policy, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 1015 by Assemblymembers Chu (D-Monterey Park) and Spitzer (R-Orange), which creates the Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).  

The Board will bring together the stakeholders in the management of sex offenders to assess the current practices in managing adult sex offenders under supervision, identify best practices and make recommendations on how to implement these changes.

CALCASA had worked diligently with Assemblymembers Chu and Spitzer for two years leading up to the bills passage. Victim advocates and authors alike were pleased to see very strong bipartisan support both years, and great leadership from both sides of the legislature. The bill landed on the desk of California’s top elected just shortly after his very own High Risk Sex Offender (HRSO) taskforce delivered a document making a very strong recommendation to implement the SOMB.

Suzanne Brown-McBride, who served on the Governor’s HRSO taskforce, weighed in heavily on the decision to include the SOMB as a recommendation. She notes, “Never before has such a group of experts gathered in a concerted effort to make sex offender management policies to the Governor. The HRSO taskforce truly generated a great deal of momentum for the SOMB to provide ongoing expertise in the placement, supervision and management of sex offenders who are released into our communities.”

CALCASA would like to thank the strong leadership from Assemblymembers Chu, and Spitzer as well all of those who have worked so hard to make this legislation become law. We also applaud the Governor for signing such an important bill that will truly enhance our ability to manage and monitor sex offenders.