California § 679.027 - Every law enforcement agency investigating a criminal act and every agency prosec

§ 679.027. Every law enforcement agency investigating a criminal act and every agency prosec

(a) Every law enforcement agency investigating a criminal act and every agency prosecuting a criminal act shall, as provided herein, at the time of initial contact with a crime victim, during followup investigation, or as soon thereafter as deemed appropriate by investigating officers or prosecuting attorneys, inform each victim, or the victim’s next of kin if the victim is deceased, of the rights they may have under applicable law relating to the victimization, including rights relating to housing, employment, compensation, and immigration relief. (b) (1) Every law enforcement agency investigating a criminal act and every agency prosecuting a criminal act shall, as provided herein, at the time of initial contact with a crime victim, during followup investigation, or as soon thereafter as deemed appropriate by investigating officers or prosecuting attorneys, provide or make available to each victim of the criminal act without charge or cost a “Victim Protections and Resources” card described in paragraph (3). (2) The Victim Protections and Resources card may be designed as part of and included with the “Marsy Rights” card described by Section 679.026. (3) By June 1, 2025, the Attorney General shall design and make available in PDF or other imaging format to every agency listed in paragraph (1) a “Victim Protections and Resources” card, which shall contain information in lay terms about victim rights and resources, including, but not limited to, the following: (A) Information about the rights provided by Section 12945.8 of the Government Code. (B) Information about the rights provided by Section 1946.7 of the Civil Code. (C) Information about the rights provided by Section 1161.3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, including information in lay terms about which crimes and tenants are eligible and under what circumstances. (D) Information about federal immigration relief available to certain victims of crime. (E) Information about the program established by Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 13950) of Part 4 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, including information about the types of expenses the program may reimburse, eligibility, and how to apply. (F) Information about the program established by Chapter 3.1 (commencing with Section 6205) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code. (G) Information about eligibility for filing a restraining or protective order. (H) Contact information for the Victims’ Legal Resource Center established by Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 13897) of Title 6 of Part 4. (I) A list of trauma recovery centers funded by the state pursuant to Section 13963.1 of the Government Code, with their contact information, which shall be updated annually. (J) The availability of community-based restorative justice programs and processes available to them, including programs serving their community, county, county jails, juvenile detention facilities, and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (c) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2024, only if General Fund moneys over the multiyear forecasts beginning in the 2024–25 fiscal year are available to support ongoing augmentations and actions, and if an appropriation is made to backfill the Restitution Fund to support the actions in this section.