Prisons: confidential informants.

Existing law establishes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and grants the department authority over state prison facilities. Existing law authorizes the department to prescribe and amend rules and regulations for the administration of the prisons. Existing law establishes the Board of Parole Hearings, and authorizes the board to conduct parole consideration hearings. This bill would prohibit an employee of, or private entity under contract with, the department from finding any state prisoner guilty of a rules violation if that finding or decision is based on, or relies on, in whole or in part, any information from an in-custody confidential informant that is neither corroborated nor reliable. The bill would additionally prohibit an employee of, or private entity under contract with, the board from making a finding or decision about any state prisoner that is based on, or relies on, in whole or in part, uncorroborated allegations from an in-custody confidential informant that have not been found true following a disciplinary hearing at which the subject was provided notice, among other requirements. The bill would require a state prisoner to receive, 10 days before these types of proceedings, a summary notice of any information provided by an in-custody confidential informant that may be used in the decision that includes, among other things, the actual or approximate date the information was provided to the department. The bill would define when information from an in-custody confidential informant is corroborated or reliable.