BILL ANALYSIS
AB 620
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 21, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS
Mary Hayashi, Chair
AB 620 (John A. Perez) - As Introduced: February 25, 2009
SUBJECT : County clerks: recordkeeping: registrations.
SUMMARY : Establishes new minimum size requirements and other
changes to identification (ID) cards for a specified class of
registered professionals. Specifically, this bill :
1)Changes the minimum size requires of ID cards issued to legal
document assistants (LDAs), unlawful detainer assistants
(UDAs), process servers, and professional photocopiers, by
inch to 3 by 2 inches.
2)Deletes the ability to get duplicate cards for employees of
LDAs and UDAs for ten dollars ($10) card.
3)Specifies that ID cards issued to partnerships or corporations
be issued in the name of the partnership or corporation,
without a photograph.
4)Requires the name of the partnership or corporation on the ID
card of a photocopier's employee.
5)Specifies that a county clerk is not required to retain any
returned notice of pending expiration that is returned as
undeliverable by the United States Postal Service.
6)Requires the application for registration of a natural person
as a professional photocopier to be signed by the applicant
under penalty of perjury.
7)Requires written confirmation from a notary authorizing the
use of his or her commission for registration if someone other
that the notary is using it.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines and regulates the activities of LDAs, UDAs, process
servers, and professional photocopiers.
2)Requires the county clerk of each county to maintain a
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register of, and assign a unique number to, LDAs, UDAs,
process servers, and professional photocopiers, and to issue
an ID card to each registrant.
3)Requires ID cards issued to professional registrants to
contain a photograph and meet varying size requirements.
4)Requires a person filing for a fictitious business name to
submit specified fees to the county clerk for the filing
statement.
5)Requires the application to register as professional
photocopier to include specified statements.
6)Requires at least one person involved in the management of a
professional photocopier to be a licensed notary public.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of the bill . According to the author's office, "County
clerks are faced with inflexible provisions in state law that
prevents clerks from operating efficiently. County clerks need
more latitude with respect to state requirements for
recordkeeping and registration and ineffective requirements need
to be removed from state law. Many of these inflexible state
provisions place blanket requirements on all counties that have
proven to be unresponsive to the needs or unique characteristics
of each county. AB 620 makes various technical changes intended
to clean up the Business and Professions Code by updating
several sections pertaining to county clerks."
Background . Currently, ID card size specifications vary among
LDAs, UDAs, registered process servers, and professional
photocopiers. Several counties have begun using new technology
to produce ID cards similar to credit cards that are more secure
because the individual's photo is digitized on the ID card. The
sponsor comments that creating minimum size specification for
all of the ID cards to be at least 3 by 2 inches will (both
electronically and manually) enable counties to make ID cards
consistent across all registrations, and allow the card to
easily fit into a wallet.
While current law requires all ID cards to contain a photograph,
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the law is silent on whether the photography requirement applies
to a partnership or corporation. Current practice does not
require photographs to be included on partnership or corporation
ID cards because the card is issued in the name of the
partnership or corporation, rather than the name of the partner
or corporate officer. A partnership or corporation must
register in addition to the individual performing duties;
partners or corporate officers performing these professional
duties would be subject to individual registration and need to
obtain an individual photo ID card. This bill aligns the law
with current practice.
Currently, LDAs and UDAs must meet specific educational
requirements when applying for an ID that require professional
registration. Existing law requires the issuance of additional
cards for employees of LDAs and UDAs upon payment of ten dollars
($10). This has caused confusion in many counties, as some LDA
and UDA employees interpret that to mean they can pay ten
dollars ($10) for a card that allows them to perform the
functions of a LDA or UDA. The sponsor states that removing the
language allowing employee ID cards will eliminate this
confusion.
Currently, the application for registration for a professional
photocopier for a natural person (as opposed to a group or
entity such as a corporation) requires an applicant to provide:
his or her contact information, prior criminal record, and
affirmation of compliance with legal requirements pertaining to
confidential records. The law is unclear as to whether an
applicant must sign the application to verify the statements are
accurate. The sponsor states that a signature requirement will
make applications for all professional registrations consistent.
Counties need a uniform way to review the authority of a
borrowed notary commission. Some counties currently require
written authorization from the notary allowing the use and this
bill would make that practice standard. The sponsor states that
this change would make the process consistent in all counties,
and give counties, the notary and the applicant the security of
knowing that the use of a notary commission to qualify for
registration as a professional photocopier is official.
Currently, professional photocopier registrations are the only
professional registration that issues an employee ID card
without requiring the employee to file a separate employee
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registration. These employee ID cards are issued using the
registration number of the individual, partnership or
corporation authorizing the issuance of the card. The sponsor
states that, "Adding a requirement that the (photocopier) ID
card include "employee of....and the name of the employer" will
clearly show under whose registration the employee is being
issued an ID card, and that the registration is for their
employer, not themselves."
Support . According to the sponsor, "These adjustments to
current law will allow the county clerk to better serve their
constituents and conserve valuable time, money and resources."
Prior Legislation . AB 1290 (Mendoza) of 2008 specified that a
county clerk is not required to retain any returned notice of
pending expiration that is returned as undeliverable by the
United States Postal Service. This bill was vetoed. The
Governor vetoed a substantial number of bills that year with the
same message that, due to the delay in passing the 2008-09 State
Budget, he would only sign bills that were "the highest priority
for California." AB 1290 was vetoed for this reason.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials (CACEO)
(sponsor)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Joanna Gin / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301