BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 844|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 844
Author: Bloom (D)
Introduced:2/26/15
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/9/15
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 5/7/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Search warrants: foreign corporations and foreign
limited liability companies
SOURCE: Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
DIGEST: This bill authorizes a foreign corporation and foreign
limited liability company to consent to service of process for a
search warrant by email or submission to a designated Internet
Web portal.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Requires when properly served with a search warrant issued by
the California court, a foreign corporation subject to this
section to provide to the applicant, all records sought
pursuant to that warrant within five business days of
receipt, including those records maintained or located
outside this state. (Penal Code, § 1524.2 (b)(1).)
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Page 2
2) Defines a "search warrant" as an order in writing in the name
of the People, signed by a magistrate, directed to a peace
officer, commanding him or her to search for a person or
persons, a thing or things, or personal property, and in the
case of a thing or things or personal property, bring the
same before the magistrate. (Penal Code, § 1523.)
3) States that a California corporation that provides electronic
communication services or remote computing services to the
general public, when served with a warrant issued by another
state to produce records that would reveal the identity of
the customers using those services, data stored by, or on
behalf of, the customer, the customer's usage of those
services, the recipient or destination of communications sent
to or from those customers, or the content of those
communications, shall produce those records as if that
warrant had been issued by a California court. (Penal Code, §
1524.2, subd. (c).)
4) Provides that the terms "electronic communication services"
and "remote computing services" shall be construed in
accordance with applicable federal law. (Penal Code, § 1524.2
(a)(1).)
5) Defines "properly served" as a search warrant has been
delivered by hand, or in a manner reasonably allowing for
proof of delivery if delivered by United States mail,
overnight delivery service, or facsimile to a person or
entity listed. (Penal Code, § 1524.2 (a)(6).)
6) States that a provider of wire or electronic communication
services or a remote computing service, upon the request of a
peace officer, shall take all necessary steps to preserve
records and other evidence in its possession pending the
issuance of a search warrant or a request in writing and an
affidavit declaring an intent to file a warrant to the
provider. Records shall be retained for a period of 90 days
which shall be extended for an additional 90-day upon a
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renewed request by the peace officer. (Penal Code, § 1524.3,
(d).)
7) Requires any domestic or foreign corporation, before it may
be designated as the agent for the purpose of service of
process of any entity, to file a certificate executed in the
name of the corporation by an officer thereof stating all of
the following:
The complete street address of its office or offices in
this state, wherein any entity designating it as such
agent may be served with process;
The name of each person employed by it at each such
office to whom it authorizes the delivery of a copy of any
such process; and
Its consent that delivery thereof to any such person at
the office where the person is employed shall constitute
delivery of any such copy to it, as such agent.
(Corporations Code, § 1505.)
1) Provides that delivery by hand of a copy of any process
against the corporation (a) to any natural person designated
by it as agent or (b), if a corporate agent has been
designated, to any person named in the latest certificate of
the corporate agent filed with the Secretary of State at the
office of such corporate agent shall constitute valid service
on the corporation. (Corporations Code, § 1701.)
2) Prohibits a foreign corporation from transacting intrastate
business without having first obtained from the Secretary of
State a certificate of qualification. To obtain that
certificate it shall file, on a form prescribed by the
Secretary of State, a statement and designation signed by a
corporate officer or, in the case of a foreign association
that has no officers, signed by a trustee stating:
Its name and the state or place of its incorporation or
organization;
The street address of its principal executive office;
The street address of its principal office within this
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state, if any;
The mailing address of its principal executive office,
if different from the addresses specified above;
The name of an agent upon whom process directed to the
corporation may be served within this state, as specified;
Its irrevocable consent to service of process directed
to it upon the agent designated and to service of process
on the Secretary of State if the agent so designated or
the agent's successor is no longer authorized to act or
cannot be found at the address given; and
If it is a corporation which will be subject to the
Insurance Code as an insurer, it shall so state that fact.
(Corporations Code, § 2105 (a).)
1) Specifies that consent extends to service of process directed
to the foreign corporation's agent in California for a search
warrant issued pursuant to Section 1524.2 of the Penal Code,
or for any other validly issued and properly served search
warrant, for records or documents that are in the possession
of the foreign corporation and are located inside or outside
of this state. This subparagraph shall apply to a foreign
corporation that is a party or a nonparty to the matter for
which the search warrant is sought. For purposes of this
subparagraph, "properly served" means delivered by hand, or
in a manner reasonably allowing for proof of delivery if
delivered by United States mail, overnight delivery service,
or facsimile to a person or entity listed as specified.
(Corporations Code, § 2105 (a)(6)(B).)
2) States that delivery by hand of a copy of any process against
a foreign corporation (a) to any officer of the corporation
or its general manager in this state, or if the corporation
is a bank to a cashier or an assistant cashier, (b) to any
natural person designated by it as agent for the service of
process, or (c), if the corporation has designated a
corporate agent, to any person named in the latest
certificate of the corporate agent filed with the Secretary
of State shall constitute valid service on the corporation.
(Corporations Code, § 2110.)
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3) Provides that a foreign limited liability company may apply
for a certificate of registration to transact business in
this state by delivering an application to the Secretary of
State for filing on a form prescribed by the Secretary of
State. (Corp. Code, § 17708.02 (a).)
4) Regulates, under the federal Stored Communications Act,
access to electronic communications from providers of
electronic communications services. Under the Act a person is
prohibited from (a) intentionally accessing without
authorization a facility through which an electronic
communication service is provided; or (b) intentionally
exceeding an authorization to access that facility; and
thereby obtaining, altering or preventing the authorized
access to a wire or electronic communication while in
electronic storage in such a system. The Act requires
governmental entities to obtain a warrant prior to requiring
a provider of electronic communication service or remote
computing service to disclose a record or other information
pertaining to a subscriber to or customer of such service.
(18 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq.)
This bill allows a foreign corporation or foreign limited
liability company to consent to service of process for a search
warrant by email or submission to a designated Internet Web
portal.
Background
Existing law requires both a domestic and foreign corporation to
designate an agent for the purpose of service of process when
the corporation files a certificate in the office of the
Secretary of State to transact business in California.
(Corporations Code, §§ 1505 and 2105.) An agent for service of
process is an individual who resides in the state, or a
corporation, designated to accept court documents if the
business entity is sued. Designating a person or an entity to
receive service of process ensures that the corporation has
formal notice of a law suit and any related court documents. The
designated agent for service of process is also the entity upon
whom a search warrant would be served for records or documents
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that are in the possession of the foreign corporation. In order
to be "properly served," the applicable statutes require the
court documents to be "delivered by hand, or in a manner
reasonably allowing for proof of delivery if delivered by United
States mail, overnight delivery service, or facsimile to a
person or entity listed as specified." (Penal Code § 1524.2
(a)(6); Corp. Code, § 2105 (a)(6)(B).)
This bill adds other means of notice as specified by the foreign
corporation or the foreign limited liability company, including
email or submission via an Internet Web portal designated by the
corporation for the purpose of service of process.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 6/10/15)
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office (source)
California Bankers Association
California District Attorneys Association
California State Sheriffs' Association
OPPOSITION: (Verified 6/10/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 5/7/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,
Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Holden, Irwin, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark
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Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,
Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Roger Hernández, Steinorth
Prepared by:Mary Kennedy / PUB. S. /
6/10/15 12:57:45
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