Protective orders: electronic monitoring.

Existing law authorizes a court with jurisdiction over a criminal matter, upon a good cause belief that harm to, or intimidation or dissuasion of, a victim or witness has occurred or is reasonably likely to occur, to issue specified orders, including an order protecting victims of violent crime from all contact by the defendant, or contact, with the intent to annoy, harass, threaten, or commit acts of violence, by the defendant. Existing law also authorizes the issuance of a restraining order, valid for up to 10 years, in all cases in which a defendant has been convicted of a crime of domestic violence. This bill would authorize a court, when issuing a protective or restraining order pursuant to the above provisions, to require electronic monitoring of the defendant if the local government, as defined, adopts a policy, with the concurrence of the county sheriff or the chief probation officer with jurisdiction, to authorize electronic monitoring of defendants and to specify the agency with jurisdiction for this purpose. The bill would require the defendant to pay for the monitoring if the court finds that the defendant is able to pay the costs of that monitoring and, if the court finds the defendant is unable to pay the costs, would authorize the court to order the costs to be paid by the local government that adopted the policy to authorize electronic monitoring. The bill would limit the duration of the electronic monitoring to one year.