(a) (1) A state entity or its designee shall conduct criminal background checks, as provided in this section, to comply with applicable federal requirements.
(2) (A) The state entity or its designee shall submit to the Department of Justice fingerprint images, and any other related information required by the Department of Justice, of an employee, prospective employee, contractor, agent, volunteer, vendor, subcontractor, or employee of a contractor of the state entity or its designee whose duties or responsibilities include having access to federal tax information received by the state entity or its designee. The fingerprint images and any other related information of an employee, prospective employee, contractor, agent, volunteer, vendor, subcontractor, or employee of a contractor of the state entity or its designee shall be furnished to the Department of Justice for the purpose of obtaining information as to the existence and nature of a record of state or federal level convictions and state or federal level arrests for which the Department of Justice establishes that the applicant was released on bail or on his or her own recognizance pending trial.
(B) The state shall meet and confer with impacted state collective bargaining units regarding the impact of this section on terms and conditions of employment. Any violation of this meet-and-confer requirement shall be a matter within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Public Employment Relations Board subject to the provisions of Chapter 10.3 (commencing with Section 3512).
(3) A state entity or its designee shall require that any services contract or interagency agreement entered into, renewed, or amended on or after July 1, 2017, that includes access to federal tax information shall include a provision requiring the agency or contractor to agree to criminal background checks of its employees, contractors, agents, volunteers, vendors, or subcontractors who will have access to federal tax information as part of their services contract or interagency agreement with the state entity or its designee.
(b) The Department of Justice shall forward to the Federal Bureau of Investigation requests for federal level criminal offender record information received pursuant to subdivision (a). The Department of Justice shall review the information returned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and compile and disseminate a response to the requesting state entity.
(c) The Department of Justice shall respond to the state entity or its designee that has requested the information as provided under subdivision (p) of Section 11105 of the Penal Code.
(d) A state entity or its designee shall request state and federal subsequent arrest notification from the Department of Justice, as provided under Section 11105.2 of the Penal Code, for individuals described in subdivision (a).
(e) The Department of Justice may charge a fee sufficient to cover the cost of processing requests pursuant to this section.
(f) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Federal tax information” means return and return information as defined in Section 6103(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, relating to definitions, that is received either from the Internal Revenue Service or from secondary sources, or through an Internal Revenue Service-approved exchange agreement, and that is subject to the requirements set forth in Section 6103(p)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, relating to safeguards.
(2) “State entity” means an agency or officer of the state that is subject to the requirements set forth in Section 6103(p)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, relating to safeguards.
(3) “Designee” is as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 17202 of the Family Code.
(Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 19, Sec. 10. (AB 111) Effective June 27, 2017.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018