(a) Any peace officer, firefighter, custodial officer, as that term is defined in subdivision (a) of Section 831 or subdivision (a) of Section 831.5 of the Penal Code, a custody assistant, as that term is defined in subdivision (a) of Section 831.7 of the Penal Code, a nonsworn uniformed employee of a law enforcement agency whose job entails the care or control of inmates in a detention facility, a nonsworn employee of a law enforcement agency whose job description entails the collection of fingerprints, or emergency medical personnel who, while acting within the scope of his or her duties, is exposed to an arrestee’s blood or bodily fluids, as defined in Section 121060.1, shall do the following:
(1) Prior to filing a petition with the court, a licensed health care provider shall notify the arrestee of the bloodborne pathogen exposure and make a good faith effort to obtain the voluntary informed consent of the arrestee or the arrestee’s authorized legal representative to perform a test for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. The voluntary informed consent shall be in writing. Once consent is given in writing, the arrestee shall provide three specimens of blood for testing as provided in this chapter.
(2) If voluntary informed consent is not given in writing, the affected individual may petition, ex parte, the court for an order requiring testing as provided in this chapter. The petition shall include a written certification by a health care professional that an exposure, including the nature and extent of the exposure, has occurred.
(b) The court shall promptly conduct a hearing upon a petition filed pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a). If the court finds that probable cause exists to believe that a possible bloodborne pathogen exposure, as defined in Section 121060.1, took place between the arrestee and the peace officer, firefighter, custodial officer, custody assistant, nonsworn uniformed employee of a law enforcement agency whose job entails the care or control of inmates in a detention facility, nonsworn employee of a law enforcement agency whose job description entails the collection of fingerprints, or emergency medical personnel, as specified in this section, the court shall order that the arrestee provide three specimens of blood for testing as provided in this chapter.
(c) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), copies of the test results shall be sent to the arrestee, each peace officer, firefighter, custodial officer, custody assistant, nonsworn uniformed employee of a law enforcement agency whose job entails the care or control of inmates in a detention facility, nonsworn employee of a law enforcement agency whose job description entails the collection of fingerprints, and emergency medical personnel named in the petition and his or her employing agency, officer, or entity, and if the arrestee is incarcerated or detained, to the officer in charge and the chief medical officer of the facility where the person is incarcerated or detained.
(2) The person whose sample was tested, shall be advised that he or she will be informed of the hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV test results only if he or she wishes to be so informed. If the person consents to be informed of the hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV test results, then he or she shall sign a form documenting that consent. The person’s refusal to sign that form shall be construed to be a refusal to be informed of the hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV test results.
(3) Except as otherwise provided under this section, all confidentiality requirements regarding medical records shall apply to the test results obtained.
(Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 688, Sec. 1. (AB 2635) Effective January 1, 2011. Note: Stats. 1995, Ch. 415, reenacted in this section the provisions from Section 199.97 as added on Nov. 8, 1988, by initiative Prop. 96.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018