BILL NUMBER: SB 389	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Negrete McLeod

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2009

   An act to amend Section 144 of, and to add Sections 144.5 and
144.6 to, the Business and Professions Code, relating to professions
and vocations.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 389, as introduced, Negrete McLeod. Professions and vocations.
   Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various
professions and vocations by boards within the Department of Consumer
Affairs. Existing law authorizes a board to suspend or revoke a
license on various grounds, including, but not limited to, conviction
of a crime, if the crime is substantially related to the
qualifications, functions, or duties of the business or profession
for which the license was issued. Existing law requires applicants to
certain boards to provide a full set of fingerprints for the purpose
of conducting criminal history record checks.
   This bill would make that fingerprinting requirement applicable to
the Dental Board of California, the Dental Hygiene Committee of
California, the Professional Fiduciary Bureau, the Osteopathic
Medical Board of California, the California Board of Podiatric
Medicine, and the State Board of Chiropractic Examiners. The bill
would require applicants for a license and, commencing January 1,
2011, licensees who have not previously submitted fingerprints, or
for whom a record of the submission of fingerprints no longer exists,
to successfully complete a state and federal level criminal offender
record information search, as specified. The bill would require
licensees to certify compliance with that requirement, as specified,
and would subject a licensee to disciplinary action for making a
false certification. The bill would also require a licensee to, as a
condition of renewal of the license, notify the board on the license
renewal form if he or she has been convicted, as defined, of a felony
or misdemeanor since his or her last renewal, or if this is the
licensee's first renewal, since the initial license was issued.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 144 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
   144.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an agency
designated in subdivision (b) shall require an applicant  for a
license  to furnish to the agency a full set of fingerprints for
purposes of conducting criminal history record checks  and shall
require the applicant to successfully complete a state and federal
level criminal offender record information search conducted through
the Department of Justice as provided in subdivision (c) or as
otherwise provided in this code  .  Any agency
designated in subdivision (b) may obtain and receive, at its
discretion, criminal history information from the Department of
Justice and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.

   (b) Subdivision (a) applies to the following:
   (1) California Board of Accountancy.
   (2) State Athletic Commission.
   (3) Board of Behavioral Sciences.
   (4) Court Reporters Board of California.
   (5) State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind.
   (6) California State Board of Pharmacy.
   (7) Board of Registered Nursing.
   (8) Veterinary Medical Board.
   (9) Registered Veterinary Technician Committee.
   (10) Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians.
   (11) Respiratory Care Board of California.
   (12) Hearing Aid Dispensers  Advisory Commission 
 Bureau  .
   (13) Physical Therapy Board of California.
   (14) Physician Assistant Committee of the Medical Board of
California.
   (15) Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Board.
   (16) Medical Board of California.
   (17) State Board of Optometry.
   (18) Acupuncture Board.
   (19) Cemetery and Funeral Bureau.
   (20) Bureau of Security and Investigative Services.
   (21) Division of Investigation.
   (22) Board of Psychology.
   (23)  The  California Board of Occupational
Therapy.
   (24) Structural Pest Control Board.
   (25) Contractors' State License Board.
   (26) Bureau of Naturopathic Medicine. 
   (27) Dental Board of California.  
   (28) Dental Hygiene Committee of California.  
   (27) Professional Fiduciaries Bureau.  
   (28) California Board of Podiatric Medicine.  
   (29) Osteopathic Medical Board of California.  
   (30) State Board of Chiropractic Examiners.  
   (c) The provisions of paragraph (24) of subdivision (b) shall
become operative on July 1, 2004. The provisions of paragraph (25) of
subdivision (b) shall become operative on the date on which
sufficient funds are available for the Contractors' State License
Board and the Department of Justice to conduct a criminal history
record check pursuant to this section or on July 1, 2005, whichever
occurs first.  
   (c) Except as otherwise provided in this code, each agency listed
in subdivision (b) shall direct applicants for a license to submit to
the Department of Justice fingerprint images and related information
required by the Department of Justice for the purpose of obtaining
information as to the existence and content of a state or federal
criminal record. The Department of Justice shall forward the
fingerprint images and related information received to the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and request federal criminal history
information. The Department of Justice shall compile and disseminate
state and federal responses to the agency pursuant to subdivision (p)
of Section 11105 of the Penal Code. The agency shall request from
the Department of Justice subsequent arrest notification service,
pursuant to Section 11105.2 of the Penal Code, for each person who
submitted information pursuant to this subdivision. The Department of
Justice shall charge a fee sufficient to cover the cost of
processing the request described in this section. 
  SEC. 2.  Section 144.5 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
   144.5.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an agency
designated in subdivision (b) of Section 144 shall require a licencee
who has not previously submitted fingerprints or for whom a record
of the submission of fingerprints no longer exists to, as a condition
of license renewal, successfully complete a state and federal level
criminal offender record information search conducted through the
Department of Justice as provided in subdivision (d).
   (b) (1) A licensee described in subdivision (a) shall, as a
condition of license renewal, certify on the renewal application that
he or she has successfully completed a state and federal level
criminal offender record information search pursuant to subdivision
(d).
   (2) The licensee shall retain for at least three years, as
evidence of the certification made pursuant to paragraph (1), either
a receipt showing that he or she has electronically transmitted his
or her fingerprint images to the Department of Justice or, for those
licensees who did not use an electronic fingerprinting system, a
receipt evidencing that the licensee's fingerprints were taken.
   (c) Failure to provide the certification required by subdivision
(b) renders an application for renewal incomplete. An agency shall
not renew the license until a complete application is submitted.
   (d) Each agency listed in subdivision (b) of Section 144 shall
direct licensees described in subdivision (a) to submit to the
Department of Justice fingerprint images and related information
required by the Department of Justice for the purpose of obtaining
information as to the existence and content of a state or federal
criminal record. The Department of Justice shall forward the
fingerprint images and related information received to the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and request federal criminal history
information. The Department of Justice shall compile and disseminate
state and federal responses to the agency pursuant to subdivision (p)
of Section 11105 of the Penal Code. The agency shall request from
the Department of Justice subsequent arrest notification service,
pursuant to Section 11105.2 of the Penal Code, for each person who
submitted information pursuant to this subdivision. The Department of
Justice shall charge a fee sufficient to cover the cost of
processing the request described in this section.
   (e) An agency may waive the requirements of this section if the
license is inactive or retired, or if the licensee is actively
serving in the military. The agency may not activate an inactive
license or return a retired license to full licensure status for a
licensee described in subdivision (a) until the licensee has
successfully completed a state and federal level criminal offender
record information search pursuant to subdivision (d).
   (f) With respect to licensees that are business entities, each
agency listed in subdivision (b) of Section 144 shall, by regulation,
determine which owners, officers, directors, shareholders, members,
agents, employees, or other natural persons who are representatives
of the business entity are required to submit fingerprint images to
the Department of Justice and disclose the information on its renewal
forms, as required by this section.
   (g) A licensee who falsely certifies completion of a state and
federal level criminal record information search under subdivision
(b) may be subject to disciplinary action by his or her licensing
agency.
   (h) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2011.
  SEC. 3.  Section 144.6 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
   144.6.  (a) An agency described in subdivision (b) of Section 144
shall require a licensee, as a condition of license renewal, to
notify the board on the license renewal form if he or she has been
convicted, as defined in Section 490, of a felony or misdemeanor
since his or her last renewal, or if this is the licensee's first
renewal, since the initial license was issued.
   (b) The reporting requirement imposed under this section shall
apply in addition to any other reporting requirement imposed under
this code.