Existing law requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to conduct rehabilitative programming in a manner that meets specified requirements, including minimizing program wait times and offering a variety of program opportunities to inmates regardless of security level or sentence length. Existing law establishes various clearance levels for program providers in state prisons, including short-term clearance, annual program provider clearance, and statewide program provider clearance, as defined. Existing law establishes a procedure for a program provider to receive one of these clearances and an identification card to gain entry into the state prison and requires the department to provide state prisons with forms for program providers to obtain the clearances.
This bill would require the department to create standardized clearance forms for legal professionals to apply for annual clearance to gain approval to provide legal services at all institutions, as specified. The bill would also require the department to, upon request, give a short-term clearance without the requirement to apply for a long-term clearance to specified individuals, including, among others, the Governor and all cabinet members, members of the Legislature and their staff, and current judges of the state.

Statutes affected:
SB 553: 7460 PEN
02/20/25 - Introduced: 7460 PEN