Bill would make removing parolees’ GPS trackers a prison felony

Sex offenders who remove their GPS tracking devices would face up to three years in prison under bill language offered Monday by Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance).

According to Lieu, 221 state parolees cut off or tampered with their GPS tracking devices in the 15 months before the enactment of AB 109, the state prison realignment law that made parole violations a county jail offense.

In the 15 months after realignment, there were 482 such cases, Lieu said.

Both sex offenders and gang members are included in the data.

Lieu’s bill, SB 57, written with Sen. Michael Rubio (D-Shafter), would allow judges to sentence parolees who remove their tracking devices to be returned to state prison, for terms of up to three years. He filed a shell version of the bill last month, and inserted the actual language on Monday.

“No law is perfect, and realignment, which has largely been successful, has created unintended consequences in the area of GPS monitoring,” Lieu stated in a news release from his office.

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