Prisons

The law adds prevention, reporting, oversight, hiring, search, and camera rules for the California prison system. It expands protections and reporting options for incarcerated people.

What the law does ​

• Requires body-worn-camera policies by July 1, 2027, including activation during interactions with incarcerated people, audit protocols, and documented deactivations for confidential care.
• Requires protocols by January 1, 2028, for nonroutine body searches and scans, including supervisor approval, documentation, and a receipt for the incarcerated person.
• Requires a three-prison pilot, if funded, to assess replacing unclothed searches with scanning technology and to report results to the Legislature.
• Requires a regularly updated zero-tolerance policy on prison sexual violence, staff sexual misconduct, sexual harassment, and retaliation.
• Bars hiring or contracting with people who have substantiated sexual-abuse allegations or specified convictions or civil or administrative findings, and requires periodic background checks.
• Requires termination and bars reinstatement after any conviction for sexual activity with a confined person, including at public entity health facilities.
• Allows anonymous staff-sexual-misconduct grievances directly to the Office of the Inspector General and extends the general grievance deadline from 60 to 120 days.
• Requires internal-affairs investigators to disclose conflicts and recuse themselves from cases involving staff with whom they have a personal relationship.

Who it affects ​

• Incarcerated people, wards, and parolees under the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
• Department employees, volunteers, contractors, investigators, and prospective prison staff.
• Public entity health-facility employees and personnel serving detention facilities.

Context ​

The Legislature identified ongoing staff sexual abuse in Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation facilities, particularly facilities designated for women, as the reason for these safeguards.

Breakdown ​

Prison Camera and Sexual-Violence Policies ​

By July 1, 2027, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation must set rules for staff body-worn cameras, including when cameras must be on and when they may be turned off. The department must audit compliance with those rules and document authorized camera deactivations. It also must adopt and regularly update a policy stating its zero-tolerance approach to sexual violence, staff sexual misconduct, and sexual harassment.

Key takeaways

• The department must establish body-worn camera policies and procedures by July 1, 2027.
• The policies must require cameras to be activated for a minimum amount of time during each shift and when staff interact with incarcerated people.
• The department must create audit procedures to check whether staff follow the body-worn camera rules.
• The policies must allow cameras to be turned off during specified confidential interactions.
• When a camera is turned off for a confidential interaction, staff must explain why, record the shutdown and restart times, and document the reason for the deactivation.
• The department must adopt and regularly update a Prison Sexual Violence Elimination policy with zero tolerance for sexual violence, staff sexual misconduct, and sexual harassment.

Search and Scan Protocols ​

By January 1, 2028, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation must create procedures for nonroutine searches or scans of incarcerated people. The procedures must require supervisory approval, record key details, and give the person documentation of the search or scan. If the Legislature provides funding, the department must also test scanning technology at three prisons as a replacement for unclothed body searches.

Key takeaways

• The department must implement protocols for nonroutine searches and scans by January 1, 2028.
• A supervising officer with at least the rank of sergeant must approve a nonroutine search or scan before it occurs.
• The department must document specified information about each nonroutine search or scan.
• An incarcerated person must receive a written receipt or other documentation containing the required information about the search or scan.
• If the Legislature appropriates funding, the department must run a pilot program at three institutions to assess whether scanning technology can replace unclothed body searches.

Internal Affairs Conflicts ​

SB 337 adds conflict-of-interest rules for Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation internal affairs investigators. Investigators must disclose actual or potential conflicts, and the department must address them. An investigator must step aside from an investigation or related decision when the conflict involves a staff member with whom the investigator has a personal relationship.

Key takeaways

• Internal affairs investigators must disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest in an investigation they are participating in.
• The department must take appropriate action to resolve a disclosed conflict of interest.
• An investigator must not participate in an investigation or related decision when they have a conflict involving a staff member with whom they have a personal relationship.
• These requirements add to existing screening rules for people selected to conduct internal affairs investigations.

Screening Prison Staff and Contractors ​

The bill bars the department from hiring people or using contractors who may have contact with incarcerated people if it finds substantiated prior sexual-abuse allegations, certain criminal convictions, or civil or administrative findings involving specified conduct. It also requires stronger checks of prior employers and recurring criminal-background reviews for current employees.

Key takeaways

• The department cannot appoint a person to a job involving possible contact with incarcerated people, or hire a contractor for services involving that contact, when it receives specified information about substantiated sexual-abuse allegations from the person’s employment history.
• The department cannot use people or contractors with possible contact with incarcerated people if it learns they were convicted of specified offenses, including felony domestic battery and certain sex offenses.
• The department also cannot appoint or engage people in covered roles when it receives information that they were found through a civil or administrative process to have committed the specified conduct.
• The department must make its best efforts to contact all prior institutional employers to obtain information about substantiated sexual-abuse allegations and other required information.
• The department must conduct criminal-background checks of existing employees every five years or use another system that captures that information.

Staff Sexual Abuse Accountability ​

SB 337 requires termination for any employee convicted of prohibited sexual activity or abuse involving people in detention or health facilities, rather than only for felony convictions in certain department jobs. It also bars those employees from being reinstated and extends employment consequences to public health facility staff. Administrators must report known or suspected staff sexual abuse to local law enforcement.

Key takeaways

• The bill requires the department to terminate and not reinstate employees convicted of any covered violation, including misdemeanor violations.
• Public entity health facilities must terminate employees convicted of any covered violation and cannot hire or reinstate them.
• The bill expands the employment penalties beyond the prior rule that applied to certain felony convictions.
• Administrators must report any known or suspected sexual abuse by staff to a local law enforcement agency.

Anonymous Sexual Misconduct Grievances ​

This part allows incarcerated people to send anonymous grievances alleging sexual misconduct directly to the Office of the Inspector General. It also allows the Inspector General to review any grievance from an incarcerated person, even if the person did not first file it with the prison or other authority involved.

Key takeaways

• An incarcerated person may anonymously file a grievance alleging sexual misconduct directly with the Office of the Inspector General.
• The bill gives the Inspector General authority to review grievances filed by incarcerated people regardless of whether they were first submitted to the relevant institution or hiring authority.
• The change creates a direct route to the Inspector General for anonymous sexual misconduct allegations.

Longer Prison Grievance Deadline ​

This part of the bill gives people in the department’s custody or supervision more time to file a grievance. It extends the filing deadline from 60 to 120 calendar days after they discover the problem.

Key takeaways

• People may file a grievance up to 120 calendar days after discovering an adverse department policy, decision, action, condition, or omission.
• The bill doubles the previous 60-calendar-day grievance filing period.
• The change applies to the department’s existing grievance procedure for people in its custody or under its supervision.