Asm. Evan Low

Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various professions and vocations by boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law authorizes a board to deny, suspend, or revoke a license or take disciplinary action against a licensee on the grounds that the applicant or licensee has, among other things, been convicted of a crime, as specified. Existing law provides that a person shall not be denied a license solely on the basis that the person has been convicted of a felony if he or she has obtained a certificate of rehabilitation or that the person has been convicted of a misdemeanor if he or she has met applicable requirements of rehabilitation developed by the board, as specified. Existing law also prohibits a person from being denied a license solely on the basis of a conviction that has been dismissed, as specified. Existing law requires a board to develop criteria to aid it when considering the denial, suspension, or revocation of a license to determine whether a crime is substantially related to the qualifications, functions, or duties of the business or profession the board regulates and requires a board to develop criteria to evaluate the rehabilitation of a person when considering the denial, suspension, or revocation of a license. This bill would revise and recast those provisions to instead authorize a board to, among other things, deny, revoke, or suspend a license on the grounds that the applicant or licensee has been subject to formal discipline, as specified, or convicted of a crime only if the applicant or licensee has been convicted of a crime within the preceding 7 years from the date of application that is substantially related to the qualifications, functions, or duties of the business or profession for which the application is made, regardless of whether the applicant was incarcerated for that crime, or if the applicant has been convicted of a crime that is substantially related to the qualifications, functions, or duties of the business or profession for which the application is made and for which the applicant is presently incarcerated or for which the applicant was released from incarceration within the preceding 7 years, except as specified. The bill would prohibit a board from denying a person a license based on the conviction of a crime, or on the basis of acts underlying a conviction, as defined, for a crime, if the conviction has been dismissed or expunged, if the person has provided evidence of rehabilitation, if the person has been granted clemency or a pardon, or if an arrest resulted in a disposition other than a conviction. The bill would require the board to develop criteria for determining whether a crime is substantially related to the qualifications, functions, or duties of the business or profession. The bill would require a board to consider whether a person has made a showing of rehabilitation if certain conditions are met. The bill would require a board to follow certain procedures when requesting or acting on an applicant's or licensee's criminal history information. The bill would also require a board to annually submit a report to the Legislature and post the report on its Internet Web site containing specified deidentified information regarding actions taken by a board based on an applicant or licensee's criminal history information. Existing law authorizes a board to deny a license on the grounds that an applicant knowingly made a false statement of fact that is required to be revealed in the application for licensure. This bill would prohibit a board from denying a license based solely on an applicant's failure to disclose a fact that would not have been cause for denial of the license had the fact been disclosed. Existing law authorizes a board, after a specified hearing requested by an applicant for licensure to take various actions in relation to denying or granting the applicant the license. This bill would revise and recast those provisions to eliminate some of the more specific options that the board may take in these circumstances. This bill would clarify that the existing above-described provisions continue to apply to the State Athletic Commission, the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, and the California Horse Racing Board. This bill would also make necessary conforming changes. This bill would make these provisions operative on July 1, 2020.

(1) Existing law, as proposed by SB 10 of the 2017–18 Regular Session, commencing October 1, 2019, requires persons arrested and detained to be subject to a pretrial risk assessment conducted by Pretrial Assessment Services, defined as an entity, division, or program that is assigned the responsibility to assess the risk level of persons charged with the commission of a crime, report the results of the risk determination to the court, and make recommendations for conditions of release of individuals pending adjudication of their criminal case. SB 10 requires the courts to establish pretrial assessment services and authorizes those services to be performed by court employees or through a contract with a local public agency, as specified. SB 10 provides that if no local agency will agree to perform the pretrial assessments, and if the court elects not to perform the assessments, the court may contract with a new local pretrial assessment services agency established specifically to perform the role. SB 10 requires pretrial assessment services to be performed by public employees. This bill, notwithstanding the requirement that pretrial assessment services be performed by public employees, would authorize, until January 1, 2023, a qualified local public agency in the City and County of San Francisco to contract with the existing not-for-profit entity that is performing pretrial services in the city and county to provide continuity and sufficient time to transition the entity's employees into public employment. (2) SB 10 authorizes Pretrial Assessment Services to release a person assessed as being a low risk, as defined, on his or her own recognizance, and additionally requires superior courts to adopt rules authorizing Pretrial Assessment Services to release persons assessed as being a medium risk, as defined, on his or her own recognizance. However, SB 10 prohibits Pretrial Assessment Services from releasing persons who meet specified conditions, including, among others, tier 2 sex offenders subject to registration for a minimum of 20 years and tier 3 sex offenders subject to lifetime registration. This bill would provide that if SB 10 of the 2017–18 Regular Session becomes operative, the release prohibitions described above would be expanded to additionally include persons convicted of sex crimes and certain other offenses subject to the Sex Offender Registration Act, as specified. By increasing the length of time certain persons remain in county jails, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Existing law requires specified categories of law enforcement officers to meet training standards pursuant to courses of training certified by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. Existing law requires the commission to develop and disseminate guidelines and training for all peace officers in California, as specified, who adhere to the standards approved by the commission, on the racial and cultural differences among the residents of this state. Existing law also requires the commission to adopt rules establishing minimum standards relating to the recruitment and training of local public safety dispatchers having a primary responsibility for providing dispatching services for local law enforcement agencies. This bill would require the commission to develop and implement a course of training regarding sexual orientation and gender identity minority groups in this state. The bill would require the course to be incorporated into the course or courses of basic training for law enforcement officers and dispatchers and would require the course or courses to include specified topics, including the terminology used to identify and describe sexual orientation and gender identity and how to create an inclusive workplace within law enforcement for sexual orientation and gender identity minorities. The bill would authorize law enforcement officers, administrators, executives, and dispatchers to participate in supplementary training that includes the topics, as specified, in that course of training.

Existing law authorizes a court to grant pretrial diversion, for a period no longer than 2 years, to a defendant suffering from a mental disorder, on an accusatory pleading alleging the commission of a misdemeanor or felony offense, in order to allow the defendant to undergo mental health treatment. Existing law conditions eligibility on, among other criteria, a court finding that the defendant's mental disorder played a significant role in the commission of the charged offense. Existing law requires, if the defendant has performed satisfactorily in diversion, that the court dismiss the defendant's criminal charges, with a record filed with the Department of Justice indicating the disposition of the case diverted, that the arrest is deemed never to have occurred, and requires the court to order access to the record of the arrest restricted, except as specified. This bill would make defendants ineligible for the diversion program for certain offenses, including murder, voluntary manslaughter, and rape. The bill would authorize a court to require the defendant to make a prima facie showing that the defendant will meet the minimum requirements of eligibility for diversion and that the defendant and the offense are suitable for diversion, as specified. The bill would also require the court, upon request, to conduct a hearing to determine whether restitution is owed to any victim as a result of the diverted offense and, if owed, to order its payment during the period of diversion. The bill would provide that a defendant's inability to pay restitution due to indigence or mental disorder would not be grounds for denial of diversion or a finding that the defendant has failed to comply with the terms of diversion. The bill would also make technical changes.

State law, repealed as of January 1, 2018, required a court to impose an additional term of imprisonment, as specified, when any person takes, damages, or destroys any property in the commission or attempted commission of a felony, as specified. This bill would authorize the court, if a person takes, damages, or destroys property in the commission or attempted commission of a felony, with the intent to cause that taking, damage, or destruction, to impose an additional term of imprisonment of up to 2 years if the property loss exceeds $235,000, an additional term of imprisonment of up to 3 years if the property loss exceeds $1,500,000, or an additional term of imprisonment of up to 4 years if the property loss exceeds $3,700,000. The bill would require the Legislature to review those threshold amounts every 5 years and adjust them for inflation. Because this bill would increase the penalty for existing felonies, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Existing law permits the governing body of any city or district to request that the county render specified services to the city or district regarding the conduct of an election. If a jurisdiction requests that the county conduct an election on its behalf pursuant to this provision, this bill would require the jurisdiction at the time that it makes that request to provide the county elections official with the boundaries of the jurisdiction and any districts within the jurisdiction. Existing law imposes various obligations on the Secretary of State with respect to the results of an election. Existing law also imposes various requirements on county elections officials with respect to the retention and preservation of election records. This bill would require the Secretary of State to promulgate regulations by January 1, 2020, establishing which events in election administration constitute "reportable events" and would require county elections officials to document reportable events and to submit information about these events to the Secretary of State for review and guidance, if necessary. By requiring new duties of local government officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.