Opinion No. (2005)

BILL LOCKYER Attorney General GREGORY L. GONOT Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE BRUCE McPHERSON, SECRETARY OF STATE, has requested an opinion on the following question: Is a person who is incarcerated in a local detention facility, such as a county jail, for the conviction of a felony eligible to vote? CONCLUSION A person who is incarcerated in a local detention facility, such as a county jail, for the conviction of a felony is not eligible to vote. ANALYSIS Section 4 of article II of the California Constitution provides: "The Legislature shall prohibit improper practices that affect elections and shall provide for the disqualification of electors while mentally incompetent or imprisoned or on parole for the conviction of a felony. " (Italics added.) 1 The question presented for resolution concerns the meaning of the term "imprisoned" as used in the phrase "imprisoned or on parole for the conviction of a felony." Does it refer only to incarceration in a state prison, or does it also include confinement in a local detention facility such as a county jail? We conclude that it includes incarceration in a local detention facility. Preliminarily, we note that a person who has been…