BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 620|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 620
Author: John A. Perez (D)
Amended: 7/23/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SEN. BUS., PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/22/09
AYES: Negrete McLeod, Wyland, Aanestad, Corbett, Correa,
Florez, Oropeza, Romero, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 4-0, 7/14/09
AYES: Corbett, Harman, Florez, Leno
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 66-4, 5/18/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : County clerks: recordkeeping: registrations
SOURCE : California Association of Clerks and Elections
Officials
DIGEST : This bill establishes new minimum size
requirements for identification cards for unlawful detainer
assistants, legal document assistants, process servers, and
professional photocopiers and makes other technical changes
to identification cards.
ANALYSIS :
Existing Law
CONTINUED
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1.Defines and regulates the activities of legal document
assistants and unlawful detainer assistants, process
servers and professional photocopiers.
2.Requires those professionals to register in the county in
which his or her principal place of business is located.
3.Requires the county clerk of each county to maintain a
register of, and assign a unique number to, those
persons, and to issue an identification card to each
registrant.
4.Requires the identification cards to contain a photograph
and to meet varying minimum size requirements, as
specified.
5.Requires a person filing for a fictitious business name
to submit specified fees to the county clerk for the
filing of the fictitious business name statement.
6.Requires the fees to be used in a specified manner,
including to cover the costs of the county clerk in
notifying registrants of the pending expiration of their
fictitious business name statement.
7.Requires the application for registration of professional
photocopiers to include specified statements.
8.Requires that at least one person involved in the
management of a professional photocopier be a licensed
notary public.
9.California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs
mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish
procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill:
1.Changes the minimum size requirements of the registrants'
identification cards to 3 1/4 by 2 inches, and deletes a
provision that requires the issuance of additional cards
to employees of legal document assistants and unlawful
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detainer assistants, as specified.
2.Specifies that identification cards issued to
partnerships or corporations be issued in the name of the
partnership or corporation, and that no photograph be
included.
3.Requires the inclusion of the name of the partnership or
corporation on the identification card of an employee of
a photocopier.
4.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.
5.Requires that application be certified to be true.
Specifies a person or entity that knowingly provides
false information shall be subject to a civil penalty for
each violation in the minimum amount of $2,500 and the
maximum amount of $25,000. An action for a civil penalty
may be brought by any public prosecutor in the name of
the people of the State of California and the penalty
imposed shall be enforceable as a civil judgment.
6.Requires written confirmation from a nonregistrant notary
public to authorize the use of his or her commission for
registration.
Background
The Business and Professions Code provides a detailed
regulatory structure for numerous professions. Among these
professions are: unlawful detainer assistants (UDAs);
legal document assistants (LDAs); process servers; and
professional photocopiers.
An UDA is defined as an individual who, for compensation,
renders assistance or advice in the prosecution or defense
of an unlawful detainer claim or action. (Bus. & Prof.
Code Sec. 6400 (a).) A LDA is generally defined as a
person who provides or assists in providing, for
compensation, any self-help service to another person who
is self-represented in a legal matter. (Id. at (c).) A
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process server is defined as any natural person that makes,
for compensation, more than 10 services of process in
California during a calendar year, and any corporation that
derives compensation from service of process within
California. (Bus. & Prof. Code Sec. 22350.) A
professional photocopier is any person who, for
compensation, obtains or reproduces documents pertaining to
personal medical information, personal identifying
information, or business records. (Bus. & Prof. Code Sec.
22450.)
County clerks are responsible for reviewing the
applications of and registering those who work in the
aforementioned professions. Among their duties, clerks are
responsible for ensuring that registrants receive
identification cards and comply with the prerequisites for
registration. According to the sponsor, the California
Association of Clerks and Election Officials, this bill is
designed to update, clarify, and simplify provisions of the
Business and Professions Code so that county clerks may
more effectively, and consistently, carry out their duties.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/19/09)
California Association of Clerks and Elections Officials
(source)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
county clerks are faced with inflexible provisions in state
law that prevents them from operating efficiently. A
number of inflexible state provisions also place blanket
requirements on all counties that have proven to be
unresponsive to the needs or unique characteristics of each
county. This bill makes various technical changes intended
to clean up the Business and Professions Code by updating
several sections pertaining to county clerks.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Bill Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley, Buchanan,
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Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway,
Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Emmerson, Evans,
Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani,
Galgiani, Garrick, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber,
Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
Yamada, Bass
NOES: Anderson, Tom Berryhill, Gilmore, Knight
NO VOTE RECORDED: DeVore, Duvall, Eng, Gaines, Hagman,
Harkey, Jeffries, Price, Saldana, Villines
JJA:cm 8/19/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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