Corporations for prevention of cruelty to animals: humane officers: criminal history.

Existing law authorizes the formation of corporations for the prevention of cruelty to animals under the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law. Existing law provides for the appointment of humane officers to a humane society or a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals. Under existing law, a humane officer may, among other things, exercise the powers of a peace officer in order to prevent the perpetration of any act of cruelty on an animal and make arrests for penal violations relating to or affecting animals, as specified. Existing law requires a humane society or a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals seeking confirmation of a humane officer's appointment to, among other requirements, submit fingerprint images to the Department of Justice for the purpose of obtaining a state summary criminal history regarding the officer, as specified. This bill would also require that these fingerprint images be used to obtain federal summary criminal history information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) . The bill would require the Department of Justice to forward the request to the FBI, review the information returned from the FBI, compile a fitness determination regarding the humane officer, and disseminate that fitness determination to the humane society or society for the prevention of cruelty to animals. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.