Tag: SB 1262

California Governor’s Veto of Senate Bill 1262 Means Background Check Difficulties Are Likely to Continue October 28, 2022 A recent decision by California's Governor Gavin Newsom will likely result in continued delays in performing background checks for state residents. Governor Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 1262 (SB 1262), which aimed to guarantee access to necessary identifying information for conducting background checks. The underlying issue began in May 2021, when a California Court of Appeal ruled in the All of Us or None v. Hamrick case. This ruling blocked California courts from permitting the search of electronic court records indexes using identifiers such as date of birth or driver's license number. This ruling meant that background check companies using these personal identifiers when searching criminal records could no longer confirm whether the information belonged to a given individual. In some cases, this ruling made it impossible to perform accurate background checks. However, in the wake of this decision, many organizations representing employers and the background screening industry lobbied the California Legislature to take action to correct this problem. The legislature responded by crafting SB 1262, which would create a brief amendment to California Government Code § 69842. SB 1262 added a sentence and changed a single clause to the code, which would have permitted background check companies to access the personal identifiers needed to guarantee records matched the appropriate individuals The law stipulates that "he clerk of the superior court shall keep such indexes as will ensure ready reference to any action or proceeding filed in the court. There shall be separate indexes of plaintiffs and defendants in civil actions and of defendants in criminal actions. The name of each plaintiff and defendant shall be indexed, and there shall appear opposite each name indexed the number of the action or proceeding and the name or names of the adverse litigant or litigants." SB 1262 would add new language stipulating, "Publicly accessible electronic indexes of defendants in criminal cases shall permit searches and filtering of results based on a defendant's driver's license number or date of birth, or both." This change would have guaranteed that the two most critical identifiers for background check companies became accessible. However, despite passing through the state Senate in a unanimous vote and an overwhelming 53-9 margin in the Assembly, the Governor's veto of SB 1262 means that the difficulties in performing background checks will continue. Therefore, now more than ever, working with a high-quality background check provider is critical. The right vendor can help determine the best options for employee screening, given the current conditions. SB 1262 Timeline April 26, 2022 – Senate Public Safety Committee Hearing (Advances on 5-0 vote). May 24, 2022 – Passes Senate (37-0 Vote), sent to Assembly. June 27, 2022 – Assembly Public Safety Committee Hearing (Advances on 5-0 vote). August 3, 2022 – Assembly Appropriations Hearing (Advances on 15-0 vote). August 31, 2022 – Passes Assembly (53-9 Vote). September 13, 2022 - Delivered to Governor. September 29, 2022 - Vetoed by Governor Newsom. The governor's veto message can be found HERE. Pre-employ helps employers like you stay compliant and incorporate fair chance hiring practices. Download our free resource 5 Tips To Avoid FCRA Non-Compliance to learn more. Source

Tag: SB 1262

California Governor’s Veto of Senate Bill 1262 Means Background Check Difficulties Are Likely to Continue

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