SECTIONS 3400-3403 - California Statutes

GOVERNMENT CODE

SECTION 3400-3403

3400. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Public
Safety Officer Medal of Valor Act.

3401. The Governor annually may award and present, in the name of
the State of California, a Public Safety Medal of Valor of
appropriate design, with ribbons and appurtenances, to one or more
public safety officers cited by the Attorney General pursuant to
Section 3402 for extraordinary valor above and beyond the call of
duty. The medal shall be the highest state award for valor awarded to
a public safety officer, which includes any person serving a public
agency, with or without compensation, as a firefighter, a law
enforcement officer, including a corrections or court officer or a
civil defense officer, or an emergency services officer.

3402. (a) There exists in state government the Public Safety Medal
of Valor Review Board, whose purpose is to solicit and review
applications for, and make recommendations to the Attorney General
regarding, the Public Safety Medal of Valor.
(b) The board shall be comprised of one representative selected by
each of the following organizations:
(1) The California Association of Highway Patrolmen.
(2) The California Coalition of Law Enforcement Associations.
(3) The California Correctional Peace Officers Association.
(4) The California Peace Officers' Association.
(5) The California Police Chiefs' Association.
(6) The California Professional Firefighters.
(7) The California State Firefighters' Association.
(8) The California State Sheriffs' Association.
(9) The California Statewide Law Enforcement Association.
(10) The Peace Officers Research Association of California.
(11) A group, selected by the board, that represents emergency
medical technicians and paramedics.
(c) The board shall be chaired by a member elected by a majority
vote of the members at the first official meeting of the board each
year. The board shall meet at the call of the chair. Members shall
serve without compensation or reimbursement for travel, per diem, or
other expenses, and they shall minimize travel and expenses to the
greatest extent possible. Any cost incurred by a member as a result
of serving as a member shall not be paid by the state.
(d) The board shall review the applications for the medal to
determine which applicants, if any, to recommend to the Attorney
General. The board may hear from witnesses and consider whatever
information it considers advisable to carry out its duties. The board
may secure directly from any state department, or other state or
local agency, information as the board considers necessary to carry
out its duties. Upon the request of the board, the head of a
department or agency may furnish information to the board. The board
shall not disclose any information that may compromise an ongoing law
enforcement investigation or is otherwise required by law to be kept
confidential.
(e) Not more often than once each year, the board may present to
the Attorney General the name or names of those persons, if any, it
recommends as candidates for the medal.
(f) The board may receive donations to pay for meeting and witness
expenses. Witnesses requested to appear before the board may be paid
no more than the fees paid to witnesses pursuant to the Code of
Civil Procedure. The per diem and mileage allowance may be paid from
funds donated to the board and shall not be paid by the state. If
donated funds are not available to the board, the board shall not
hold hearings or have witnesses.

3403. (a) The Attorney General shall review the candidates
recommended to him or her by the Public Safety Medal of Valor Review
Board and advise the Governor which candidates, if any, merit the
Attorney General's citation for extraordinary valor above and beyond
the call of duty.
(b) The Attorney General shall pay for the production of the
medals from existing resources within the Department of Justice.