Bill Text: CA AB126 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Department of Forestry and Fire Protection: employment:
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-02 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB126 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB126-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 126 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Jeffries
JANUARY 16, 2009
An act to add Article 4 (commencing with Section 790) to Chapter
2.5 of Division 1 of the Public Resources Code, relating to forestry
and fire protection.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 126, as introduced, Jeffries. Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection: employment: criminal background checks.
Existing law requires the Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection to be responsible for the fire protection, fire
prevention, maintenance, and enhancement of the state's forest,
range, and brushland resources, contract fire protection, associated
emergency services, and assistance in civil disasters and other
nonfire emergencies.
This bill would require the department to conduct a state and
federal level criminal offender record information search through the
Department of Justice prior to hiring an applicant for a position
with the department or the State Board of Forestry and Fire
Protection, with exceptions. The bill would require the Department of
Justice to provide the information electronically, and require the
department to request the Department of Justice to provide subsequent
arrest notification services. The applicant would pay the fee
charged by the Department of Justice for processing the request, and
the department would refund the fee once that person had been
employed 24 months cumulatively.
This bill would require the department to make and enforce those
regulations necessary and proper for the implementation and
maintenance of the requirements of these provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 4 (commencing with Section 790) is added to
Chapter 2.5 of Division 1 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
Article 4. Employment Applicant Criminal Background Check
790. (a) (1) Prior to hiring an applicant for a employment with
the department or the board, the department shall electronically
submit to the Department of Justice fingerprint images and related
information required by the Department of Justice on the applicant
for the purposes of obtaining information as to the existence and
content of a record of state or federal convictions and state or
federal arrests and also information as to the existence and content
of a record of state or federal arrests for which the Department of
Justice establishes that the person is free on bail or on his or her
own recognizance pending trial or appeal, as provided pursuant to
subdivision (p) of Section 11105 of the Penal Code.
(2) When received, the Department of Justice shall forward to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation requests for federal summary criminal
history information received pursuant to this subdivision. The
Department of Justice shall review the information returned from the
Federal Bureau of Investigation and compile and electronically
disseminate a response to the department, as provided pursuant to
Section 11105 of the Penal Code.
(3) The Department of Justice shall electronically provide the
response to the department.
(b) The department shall request the Department of Justice to
provide subsequent arrest notification service, as provided pursuant
to Section 11105.2 of the Penal Code, for persons described in
subdivision (a).
(c) The Department of Justice shall charge a fee sufficient to
cover the cost of processing the request described in this section.
791. Each applicant shall have his or her fingerprint images and
related information submitted to the department for submission to the
Department of Justice, pursuant to regulations adopted pursuant to
Section 796, for a state and federal level criminal offender record
information search, including subsequent arrest information.
792. (a) Each applicant shall pay to the department the fee
charged by the Department of Justice to cover the costs of processing
the request for a criminal background check.
(b) An employee who is employed by the department or the board for
24 months, cumulatively, shall be refunded, by the department, the
amount he or she paid for processing costs of the criminal background
check.
793. Each application for employment shall require the applicant'
s social security number in order to establish the identity of the
applicant. The information obtained as a result of a state and
federal level criminal offender record information search shall be
used in accordance with Section 11105 of the Penal Code, and to
determine whether the applicant is eligible for employment.
794. An applicant for seasonal employment shall not be required
to submit his or her fingerprint images or pay the fee, upon a
determination by the department that the applicant's fingerprint
images have previously been submitted to the Department of Justice
during the seasonal employee's initial hiring or initial rehiring
after this article goes into effect if no more than two years has
elapsed from the date of last employment.
795. A certified EMT-I or EMT-II shall be exempt from the
requirements of this article if he or she meets all of the following:
(a) He or she is currently certified pursuant to Division 2.5
(commencing with Section 1797) of the Health and Safety Code.
(b) His or her fingerprint images were previously submitted to the
Department of Justice and a state and federal level criminal
offender record information search, including subsequent arrest
information, has been conducted.
(c) The EMT-I or EMT-II submits to the department a written
verification that the certifying entity, as defined in Section
1797.62 of the Health and Safety Code, the Emergency Medical Services
Authority, as described in Section 1797.101 of the Health and Safety
Code, or the employer has had a state and federal level criminal
offender record information search conducted, including subsequent
arrest information, and that nothing in the criminal offender record
information search precluded the individual from obtaining EMT-I or
EMT-II certification.
796. The department shall make and enforce those regulations that
are necessary and proper for the implementation and maintenance of
the requirements of this article.
