State Bar of California: disclosures.

The State Bar Act provides for the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California, a public corporation governed by a board of trustees, and provides that the State Bar is subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act and the California Public Records Act, as specified. That act requires an applicant for admission to the State Bar to, among other things, take and pass the California bar examination. That act prohibits the State Bar from disclosing any identifying information submitted by an applicant for admission and provides that all such information is confidential. This bill would authorize the disclosure of specified information, subject to state and federal laws protecting education records, submitted by an applicant to the State Bar for admission and license to practice, including the names of applicants who have passed any examination administered by the State Bar. The authorization would apply commencing January 1, 2016. The bill would also prohibit the State Bar from disclosing, and would provide for the confidentiality of, any information received from an educational or testing entity collected by the State Bar for the purposes of conducting a specified study, except for aggregate, summary, or statistical data that does not identify any person and does not provide substantial risk of identification of any person. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.