Criminal history information: background checks

The law aligns California’s background-check procedures with federal authorization rules while broadening who must be screened in several roles involving children, vulnerable people, public functions, and firearms.

What the law does ​

• Requires state and national fingerprint checks for registered-nurse applicants and updates procedures for numerous existing licensing, employment, certification, and volunteer checks.
• Allows qualified organizations serving children, older adults, or people with disabilities to require fingerprint-based checks and subsequent-arrest notifications for covered workers, owners, administrators, and volunteers.
• Delays any legally required federal check until the FBI authorizes that entity to receive federal criminal-history information; then requires people previously checked only at the state level to resubmit fingerprints.
• Expands care-facility screening to administrators, operational leaders, people with at least a 10% financial interest, and certain adults or minors who have client contact.
• Authorizes cities, counties, governmental districts, and the Housing Development and Finance Committee to use the standardized fingerprint process where authorized.
• Requires firearm eligibility and dangerous-weapons license or permit applicants to submit fingerprints for state and national checks and ongoing arrest notifications.
• Narrows mandatory checks for criminal-justice-agency volunteers, contractors, and subcontractors to those supporting criminal-justice administration or with system or unescorted facility access.

Who it affects ​

• Applicants and workers in nursing, private and heritage schools, school contractors, child care, community care, foster care, elder care, adoption, Medi-Cal, banking, escrow, and professional licensing.
• Volunteers, employees, contractors, and subcontractors of qualified care organizations and specified government or criminal justice entities.
• Applicants for firearm eligibility certificates and dangerous-weapons licenses or permits.

Breakdown ​

Nursing License Background Checks ​

The bill requires people applying for a registered nursing license to complete a fingerprint-based criminal history background check. The Board of Registered Nursing must send applicants’ fingerprints and related information to the Department of Justice, which must return state and federal criminal-history results as specified.

Key takeaways

• Registered nursing license applicants must undergo fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background checks.
• The new background-check requirement applies in addition to existing education and other licensing requirements.
• The Board of Registered Nursing must submit applicants’ fingerprint images and related information to the Department of Justice.
• The Department of Justice must provide the board with state-level and federal-level background-check responses as specified.

Government and Tribal Officer Background Checks ​

The bill updates the rules for sharing criminal history information with local governments and certain law enforcement officers. It extends the relevant provisions to governmental districts, allows the Attorney General to share information with peace officers from tribes in other states when the same conditions are met, and sets a fingerprint-submission process for local governmental entities. Information releases under these rules must comply with specified federal regulations.

Key takeaways

• The bill applies these criminal-history information rules to governmental districts, along with cities and counties.
• The Attorney General may provide qualifying criminal-history information to peace officers of tribes in other states when the required conditions are met.
• Cities, counties, city and counties, and governmental districts must follow a prescribed process to submit fingerprint images and related information to the department.
• The department's release of information under these provisions is subject to specified federal regulations.
• Because the bill expands access to criminal-history information, it also expands conduct that can be charged as a misdemeanor for unauthorized disclosure.

Background Checks for Agency Access ​

The bill narrows when criminal justice agencies must require fingerprint-based state and national background checks for volunteers, contractors, and subcontractors. These checks would be required only if the person helps administer criminal justice, can access the agency’s systems directly or remotely, or can enter agency facilities without an escort.

Key takeaways

• The bill does not change the background-check requirement for employees and prospective employees of criminal justice agencies.
• Volunteers, contractors, and subcontractors would need fingerprint-based state and national background checks only when they perform specified work or have specified access.
• Covered work includes providing services for the administration of criminal justice.
• Covered access includes direct or remote access to a criminal justice agency’s systems or unescorted access to its facilities.

Standardizing Background Check Submissions ​

This part requires the listed employment, licensing, certification, registration, and appointment background checks to be submitted under the bill’s updated fingerprint-background-check process. It also makes related technical changes so the existing requirements match that process.

Key takeaways

• The bill moves the specified background checks into the updated submission process described earlier in the bill.
• The change applies to checks involving certain school contractors, local educational agency contractors, and specified local government employees or volunteers.
• It also applies to fingerprint checks for massage professionals, professional fiduciaries, tax preparers, humane officers, certain bank workers, and escrow agents.
• The bill makes conforming changes to align these existing background-check requirements with the updated process.

Background Checks for Child-Supervising Roles ​

The bill replaces the current rules for certain employers and volunteer organizations with a new system allowing qualified entities to require fingerprint-based state and national criminal history checks for covered people. Qualified entities may also receive later arrest notifications. Federal background-check requirements do not apply until the FBI authorizes the entity to conduct those checks; once authorized, people who have not already received a federal check must submit fingerprints again.

Key takeaways

• Qualified entities may require covered individuals to complete fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background checks.
• Qualified entities may receive notifications of later arrests under the bill's arrest-notification process.
• The bill broadens access to criminal history information, which expands an existing crime and creates a state-mandated local program.
• A statutory federal background-check requirement is paused until the FBI authorizes the relevant entity to conduct federal checks.
• After FBI authorization, an entity must require new fingerprints from applicants, licensees, certified individuals, or employees who have not previously had a federal criminal history check.

Firearm License Fingerprint Checks ​

The bill replaces the two-paper-copy fingerprint requirement for certain firearm eligibility applications with a requirement to submit fingerprint images and related information to the Department of Justice. It applies to applicants for certificates of eligibility and dangerous weapons licenses or permits, including permits involving assault weapons and short-barreled shotguns. The fingerprints will be used for state and national criminal history checks and retained for later arrest notifications.

Key takeaways

• Applicants for a certificate of eligibility or a dangerous weapons license or permit must submit fingerprint images and related information to the department.
• The department must use the fingerprints to conduct state and national criminal history background checks.
• The checks help determine whether an applicant is barred under state or federal law from possessing, receiving, owning, or buying a firearm.
• The department must keep the fingerprint impressions so it can receive later arrest notifications.
• The bill replaces the prior requirement that the application include two copies of the applicant’s fingerprints.

Medi-Cal Provider Fingerprint Checks ​

The bill allows the State Department of Public Health to serve as the designee for criminal background checks of high-risk Medi-Cal providers, instead of relying only on a designee of the Department of Health Care Services. It also lets the Department of Public Health set the method people must use to submit fingerprints for these checks.

Key takeaways

• The bill expands who may act as the department’s designee for criminal background checks of high-risk Medi-Cal providers.
• The State Department of Public Health may serve in that role alongside the State Department of Health Care Services.
• The State Department of Public Health may prescribe how individuals submit fingerprints for required background checks.
• The existing fingerprint requirement for specified individuals connected to high-risk providers remains in place.

Health Department Background Checks ​

The bill extends the fingerprint and criminal background-check process to the State Department of Public Health as an alternative to the State Department of Health Care Services. It also updates who must submit information by covering specified people subject to state and national criminal history checks, and it defines “applicant” and “provider” for this process.

Key takeaways

• The State Department of Public Health may use the same background-check requirement and procedure as the State Department of Health Care Services.
• Specified individuals subject to state and national criminal history background checks must submit fingerprint images and related information.
• The bill changes the description of covered people from specified applicants, providers, and individuals to specified individuals subject to these background checks.
• The bill defines the terms “applicant” and “provider” for purposes of the background-check process.

Expanded Care Facility Background Checks ​

This part expands the people whose criminal records must be obtained for licensing and oversight of certain care facilities and childcare centers. It adds people who manage or operate a facility and people with significant financial ownership interests. It also makes clear that background-check rules for people with direct client contact apply to both adults and minors, and extends certain rules to limited liability company applicants.

Key takeaways

• Background checks will be required for administrators, supervisors, managers, directors, and people acting in those roles at covered facilities.
• The requirement will also cover adults responsible for operating a covered facility and people with at least a 10% financial interest in an applicant.
• The bill clarifies that staff, volunteers, and employees with direct client contact can be either adults or minors.
• Limited liability companies are added to the types of applicants subject to these provisions.
• Because the bill expands access to criminal history information, it expands a crime and creates a state-mandated local program.

Housing Finance Committee Background Checks ​

The bill allows the Housing Development and Finance Committee to require fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background checks for its workers and certain other people working with it. The Department of Justice must provide state and federal criminal-history responses for those checks.

Key takeaways

• The Housing Development and Finance Committee may require background checks for employees, job applicants, volunteers, contractors, and subcontractors.
• The checks may use fingerprints to search both California and national criminal-history records.
• The Department of Justice must provide both state-level and federal-level responses to the requested checks.
• The bill expands access to criminal-history information and therefore creates a state-mandated local program.

Temporary Yacht Broker Licenses ​

The bill allows temporary licenses for yacht brokers, not just salespersons. It also lets the Deputy Director of Boating and Waterways extend or reissue temporary broker or salesperson licenses so applicants have time to complete the required fingerprint-based criminal history check.

Key takeaways

• The bill expands temporary licensing to include yacht brokers.
• The bill allows temporary licenses to be extended or newly issued for broker and salesperson applicants.
• The extension or new temporary license may give an applicant time to meet the criminal history background check requirement.
• Applicants for broker and salesperson licenses still must complete the required fingerprint-based background check.

Conditional Education Code Update ​

This part makes additional changes to Education Code Section 44237 only if both AB 2796 and SB 685 become law. The additional changes apply only when AB 2796 is enacted after SB 685.

Key takeaways

• The bill includes additional amendments to Education Code Section 44237.
• Those amendments take effect only if both AB 2796 and SB 685 are enacted.
• AB 2796 must be enacted after SB 685 for the additional amendments to apply.

Conditional AB 2001 Changes ​

This part adds AB 2001’s proposed changes to Penal Code Section 11105 only under specified conditions. The added changes take effect only if both bills become law and AB 2796 is enacted after AB 2001.

Key takeaways

• This provision incorporates additional amendments to Penal Code Section 11105 that were proposed in AB 2001.
• The incorporated amendments apply only if both AB 2796 and AB 2001 are enacted.
• AB 2796 must be enacted last for these additional changes to become operative.

No State Reimbursement ​

This part says the state does not have to reimburse local agencies or school districts for costs caused by this law. The bill identifies a specified reason for not requiring reimbursement under California’s state-mandate rules.

Key takeaways

• The bill states that no state reimbursement is required for costs resulting from this act.
• Local agencies and school districts cannot claim reimbursement under the state-mandate process for this act.
• The digest says the lack of reimbursement is based on a specified reason.