BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                           447 (Yee)
          
          Hearing Date:  05/11/2009           Amended: As introduced
          Consultant:  Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Public Safety  
          7-0
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY: SB 447 requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to  
          establish, implement, and maintain a confirmation program to  
          process fingerprint-based criminal record background clearances  
          on individuals designated as custodians of records by any public  
          or private entity that receives criminal history information  
          from the DOJ. This bill allows the DOJ to charge a $30 fee per  
          applicant to cover the cost of the program, in addition to its  
          standard fees to cover the cost of processing the appropriate  
          state and federal level criminal record background check. 
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2009-10      2010-11       2011-12     Fund
                                                                  
          DOJ confirmation program          $0                      $0      
                       $0               Special*
          for custodians of records

          *Fingerprint Fee Account; fully offset by a new fee.
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS: Under existing law, DOJ charges clients for  
          processing fingerprint-based criminal background checks, and  
          those fees cover the cost of processing the background checks.  
          Currently, the cost is $51 for a full (state and federal)  
          criminal background check. This bill would likely increase the  
          number of checks, but the fees would continue to generate enough  
          revenue to cover the expense.

          This bill also requires "agencies" (which it defines as both  
          public and private entities that require DOJ background checks)  
          to designate one or more "custodians of records" who manage the  
          completed background checks for the agencies. These agencies  
          range from state departments to charities, school districts to  










          accounting firms, and virtually all have one or more persons who  
          are functionally the custodians of records. This bill requires  
          that these custodians of records be designated as such, and  
          subject to DOJ background checks and confirmation based on their  
          criminal histories.