Amended in Assembly March 28, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1993

Introduced by Assembly Member Irwin

February 16, 2016

An act to add Section 1502.7 to the Corporations Code, and to add Section 1524.4 to the Penal Code, relating to law enforcement.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1993, as amended, Irwin. Corporate law enforcement contacts.

(1) Existing law authorizes a court or magistrate to issue a warrant for the search of a place and the seizure of property or things identified in the warrant where there is probable cause to believe that specified grounds exist. Existing law also establishes procedures for certain California corporations when served with a warrant issued by a court in another state.

This bill would require the Attorney General to, by July 1, 2017, establish minimum qualifications for a corporate law enforcement contact and would require specified corporations to designate a corporate law enforcement contact that meets those minimum qualifications. The bill would require those corporations to file a statement with the Secretary of State identifying the corporate law enforcement contact, as specified, and would prohibit the public disclosure of that statement. The bill would require the Secretary of State, on or before October 1, 2017, and annually thereafter, to transmit to the Attorney General, in the manner prescribed by the Attorney General, a copy of the current statement for each corporation, and would require the Attorney General to distribute to local law enforcement agencies a list of corporate law enforcement contacts created from the statements that he or she receives from the Secretary of State. The bill would require a corporation subject to these provisions to respond to a properly served warrant within 5 business days.

(2) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

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 1502.7 is added to the Corporations Code,
to read:

1502.7.  

(a) Every corporation described in subdivision (a) of
Section 1524.4 of the Penal Code shall file, within 90 days after
the filing of its original articles and annually thereafter during the
applicable filing period, a statement identifying the corporate law
enforcement contact designated pursuant to Section 1524.4 of the
Penal Code.

(b) For the purposes of this section, the applicable filing period
for a corporation shall be the calendar month during which its
original articles were filed and the immediately preceding five
calendar months. The Secretary of State shall provide a notice to
each corporation to comply with this section approximately three
months prior to the close of the applicable filing period. The notice
shall state the due date for compliance and shall be sent to the last
address of the corporation according to the records of the Secretary
of State or to the last electronic mail address according to the
records of the Secretary of State if the corporation has elected to
receive notices from the Secretary of State by electronic mail. The
failure of the corporation to receive the notice is not an excuse for
failure to comply with this section.

(c) The Secretary of State may destroy or otherwise dispose of
any statement filed pursuant to this section after it has been
superseded by the filing of a new statement.

(d) On or before October 1, 2017, and annually thereafter, the
Secretary of State shall transmit to the Attorney General, in the
manner prescribed by the Attorney General, a copy of the current
statement made pursuant to this section for each corporation.

(e) If the corporate law enforcement contact is no longer
employed by the corporation, the corporation shall forthwith file
a statement identifying the new corporate law enforcement contact
designated pursuant to Section 1524.4 of the Penal Code.

(f) A statement filed pursuant to this section is confidential and
shall not be disclosed pursuant to any state law, including, but not
limited to, the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1).

SEC. 2.  

Section 1524.4 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

1524.4.  

(a) This section applies to a corporation begin insert operating in
California that is a service provider, as defined in subdivision (j)
of Section 1546, end insert that generates customer data for 1,000,000 or
more people begin delete annually from any of the following: end delete begin insert annually. This
section does not apply to a service provider that does not offer
services to the general public. end insert

begin delete

(1) Data searches.

end delete begin delete

(2) Geolocation data.

end delete begin delete

(3) Social media, as defined in Section 980 of the Labor Code.

end delete

(b) (1) A corporation described in subdivision (a) shall designate
a corporate law enforcement contact that meets the qualifications
established pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c). If the
corporate law enforcement contact is no longer employed by the
corporation, the corporation shall forthwith designate a new
corporate law enforcement contact.

(2) When properly served with a search warrant issued by the
California court, a corporation described in subdivision (a) shall
provide to the peace officer to whom the search warrant was issued
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 1528, all records sought
pursuant to that warrant within five business days of receipt,
including those records maintained or located outside this state.

(c) (1) The Attorney General shall, by July 1, 2017, establish
minimum qualifications for a corporate law enforcement contact,
including, but not limited begin delete to, a requirement that the contact have
continual availability and authority to make decisions regarding
warrants and the disclosure of information and data. end delete begin insert to, the
following: end insert

begin insert

(A) The ability to shorten the deadline for compliance.

end insert begin insert

(B) Exclusive access and service for law enforcement personnel.

end insert begin insert

(C) An ability to comply with a law enforcement request for
information regardless of the location of the data.

end insert begin insert

(D) A requirement that the contact have continual availability.

end insert begin insert

(E) The authority to make decisions regarding warrants and
the disclosure of information and data.

end insert

(2) The Attorney General shall, annually, distribute a list of
corporate law enforcement contacts created from the statements
that he or she receives from the Secretary of State pursuant to
Section 1502.7 of the Corporations Code to local law enforcement
agencies.

SEC. 3.  

The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of
this act, which adds Section 1502.7 of the Corporations Code,
imposes a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings
of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies
within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California
Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the
Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest
protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest:

Prohibiting the disclosure of statements filed by corporations
that designate a corporate law enforcement contact protects the
internal business processes of private businesses from unnecessary
intrusion and facilities communication between law enforcement
and private businesses regarding necessary information that
protects public health and safety.