BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2343
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Date of Hearing: April 18, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2343 (Torres) - As Amended: March 28, 2012
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 5-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill:
1)Requires, whenever state or federal summary criminal history
information is furnished by DOJ as the result of an
application by an authorized agency, organization, or
individual, and the information is to be used for employment,
licensing, or certification, the authorized agency,
organization, or individual to furnish a copy of the
information to the person to whom the information relates if
the information is a basis for an adverse employment,
licensing, or certification decision.
2)Authorizes DOJ to provide subsequent state or federal arrest
or disposition notification to any entity authorized to
receive state or federal summary criminal history information
to assist in employment, licensing, or certification duties,
upon the arrest or disposition of any person whose
fingerprints are maintained on file at the DOJ or the FBI as
the result of application for licensing, employment,
certification, or approval.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Minor absorbable costs to DOJ.
2)Unknown potential state and local agency savings to the extent
the authorization for the provision of subsequent criminal
history information by DOJ saves agencies time and resources.
COMMENTS
AB 2343
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1)Rationale . According to the author and sponsor (DOJ),
employing and licensing entities face an arduous process in
determining criminal dispositions subsequent to arrests of
persons they have already employed or licensed. This bill is
designed to (a) explicitly authorize provision of subsequent
disposition information to California regulatory entities to
assist them in vetting their workforces; (b) provide DOJ the
explicit authority to participate in the FBI's subsequent
notification service for regulatory entities; and (c) require
provision of a copy of any criminal history information to any
person who suffers an adverse employment or licensing decision
as a result of that information.
2)Background . When an individual is fingerprinted as part of a
background check for employment or licensing, the employing or
licensing entity can ask DOJ to retain the fingerprints to
provide subsequent arrest notification. Currently, when
individuals who have cleared their background checks are
arrested, the employing or licensing entity knows that their
employee or licensee has been arrested, but they are not
subsequently informed by DOJ as to the ultimate disposition of
the case. As a result, the employing or licensing entity must
contact the arresting agency, the district attorney or the
court to determine the continued suitability of their employee
or licensee.
The FBI's Next Generation Identification project will offer
subsequent notification service to states that ask to have
their regulatory fingerprints retained. This project is
expected to be in operation in 2014. DOJ seeks statutory
allowance to take advantage of this service should it be
become available.
3)Support . According to DOJ, this bill allows California to
participate in the FBI's Next Generation identification
"rapback" process. The Rapback process has the FBI retain the
applicant's fingerprints in order to provide notice of
subsequent activity logged at the federal level. With the
rapback process, a federal level criminal offender record
information (CORI) search would remain fresh beyond the date
of the initial search. Currently, regulatory purpose, federal
level CORI searches are executed at a point in time and
immediately become stale. The FBI has not yet finalized the
implementation plan, cost or details regarding its the rapback
AB 2343
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process.
This bill also explicitly authorizes DOJ to provide subsequent
disposition information to entities authorized to conduct
criminal history background checks. Currently DOJ may only
provide subsequent arrest information. The agency conducting
the background check is then obligated to track the arrest in
order to determine the outcome, and whether the arrest will
affect the employment of the individual already in a position
of trust. This is time consuming and expensive. Allowing DOJ
to provide subsequent disposition information will reduce the
investigative burden on entities conducting the background,
and will protect employees and clients.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081