BILL NUMBER: AB 971 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Garcia
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to amend Section 15975 of the Government Code, and to amend
Section 432.7 of the Labor Code, relating to public employment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 971, as introduced, Garcia. Contracts and applications for
employment: paratransit services.
Existing law prohibits an employer, whether a public agency or
private individual or corporation, from asking an applicant for
employment to disclose, or utilizing as a factor in determining any
condition of employment, information concerning an arrest or
detention that did not result in a conviction, except as specified.
Existing law authorizes a health care facility, as defined, to ask an
applicant for employment to disclose an arrest for specified
offenses, including offenses specified in the sex offender
registration statute.
Existing law requires the Attorney General to furnish state
summary criminal history information to a city, county, city and
county, or district, or an officer or official thereof, when that
information is needed in fulfilling employment, certification, or
licensing duties, as specified, subject to specified restrictions as
to arrests or detentions that did not result in a conviction. Other
provisions of existing law authorize the Attorney General to provide
summary criminal history information to specified persons or entities
for specified purposes. Existing law provides a similar provision
with respect to authorizing a local public entity to receive local
criminal history information.
This bill would authorize a specified social services paratransit
agency to require its service contractors, as specified, to ask
applicants for employment with regular access to persons with
disabilities to disclose arrests for offenses specified in the sex
offender registration statute. The bill would also authorize that
agency to receive specified state and local criminal history
information. The bill would, in addition, authorize a service
contractor of a paratransit agency, as specified, to ask applicants
for employment with regular access to persons with disabilities to
disclose arrests for offenses specified in the sex offender
registration statute, if required by the paratransit agency to do so.
The bill would further make technical, nonsubstantive, and
conforming changes.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 15975 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
15975. (a) The transportation planning
agencies and the county transportation commissions shall prepare and
adopt an action plan that describes in detail the steps required to
accomplish the consolidation of social service transportation
services. Funding for the action plan shall be provided from local
transportation funds made available under Chapter 4 (commencing with
Section 99200) of Part 11 of Division 10 of the Public Utilities
Code. The action plan shall substantiate that one or more of the
benefits indicated in Sections 15951 and 15952 are feasible for the
services in a given geographic area. The action plan shall include,
but not be limited to, the following:
(a)
(1) The designation of consolidated transportation
service agencies within the geographic area of jurisdiction of the
transportation planning agency or county transportation commission.
The action plan may designate more than a single agency or multiple
agencies as consolidated transportation service agencies, if improved
coordination of all services is demonstrated within the geographic
area. In Ventura County, the county transportation commission is the
consolidated transportation service agency.
The action plan may also specify that the consolidation of some
services and the coordination of other services is the most feasible
approach, at the time the action plan is submitted, which will
provide improved efficiency and effectiveness of those services.
(b)
(2) The identification of the social service recipients
to be served, of funds available for use by the consolidated or
coordinated services, and of an orderly strategy and schedule
detailing the steps required to develop the financial program and
management structure necessary to implement consolidated or
coordinated services.
(c)
(3) Measures to coordinate the services provided under
subdivision (a) paragraph (1) with
existing fixed route service provided by public and private
transportation providers.
(d)
(4) Measures for the effective coordination of
specialized transportation service from one provider service area to
another.
(e)
(5) Measures to ensure that the objectives of the
action plan are consistent with the legislative intent declared in
Section 15951.
(f)
(b) An entity formed by the regional transportation
planning authority as a nonprofit public benefit corporation,
designated as a consolidated transportation services agency under
this section and charged with administering a countywide coordinated
paratransit plan adopted pursuant to Section 37.141 of Chapter 49 of
the Code of Federal Regulations shall, for the purposes of paragraph
(2) of subdivision (e) of Section 14055 and Part 1 (commencing with
Section 810) and Part 2 (commencing with Section 814) of Division 3.6
, be deemed a "public agency" within the meaning of
"public entity," as defined in Section 811.2.
SEC. 2. Section 432.7 of the Labor Code is amended to read:
432.7. (a) No An employer, whether
a public agency or private individual or corporation, shall
may not ask an applicant for employment to
disclose, through any written form or verbally, information
concerning an arrest or detention that did not result in conviction,
or information concerning a referral to, and participation in, any
pretrial or posttrial diversion program, nor shall any
program. An employer may not seek
from any source whatsoever , or utilize, as a
factor in determining any condition of employment including hiring,
promotion, termination, or any apprenticeship training program or any
other training program leading to employment, any record of arrest
or detention that did not result in conviction, or any record
regarding a referral to, and participation in, any pretrial or
posttrial diversion program. As used in this section, a conviction
shall include a plea, verdict, or finding of guilt regardless of
whether sentence is imposed by the court. Nothing in this section
shall prevent an employer from asking an employee or applicant for
employment about an arrest for which the employee or applicant is out
on bail or on his or her own recognizance pending trial.
(b) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the disclosure of the
information authorized for release under Sections 13203 and 13300 of
the Penal Code, to a government agency employing a peace officer.
However, the employer shall not determine any condition of employment
other than paid administrative leave based solely on an arrest
report. The information contained in an arrest report may be used as
the starting point for an independent, internal investigation of a
peace officer in accordance with Chapter 9.7 (commencing with Section
3300) of Division 4 of Title 1 of the Government Code.
(c) In any case where a person violates this section, or Article 6
(commencing with Section 11140) of Chapter 1 of Title 1 of Part 4 of
the Penal Code, the applicant may bring an action to recover from
that person actual damages or two hundred dollars ($200), whichever
is greater, plus costs, and reasonable attorney's fees. An
intentional violation of this section shall entitle the applicant to
treble actual damages, or five hundred dollars ($500), whichever is
greater, plus costs, and reasonable attorney's fees. An intentional
violation of this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not
to exceed five hundred dollars ($500).
(d) The remedies under this section shall be in addition to and
not in derogation of all other rights and remedies that an applicant
may have under any other law.
(e) Persons seeking employment or persons already employed as
peace officers or persons seeking employment for positions in the
Department of Justice or other criminal justice agencies as defined
in Section 13101 of the Penal Code are not covered by this section.
(f) Nothing in this section shall prohibit an employer at a health
facility, as defined in Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code,
from asking an applicant for employment either of the following:
(1) With regard to an applicant for a position with regular access
to patients, to disclose an arrest under any section specified in
Section 290 of the Penal Code.
(2) With regard to an applicant for a position with access to
drugs and medication, to disclose an arrest under any section
specified in Section 11590 of the Health and Safety Code.
(g) (1) No A peace officer or
employee of a law enforcement agency with access to criminal offender
record information maintained by a local law enforcement criminal
justice agency shall may not knowingly
disclose, with intent to affect a person's employment, any
information contained therein pertaining to an arrest or detention or
proceeding that did not result in a conviction, including
information pertaining to a referral to, and participation in, any
pretrial or posttrial diversion program, to any person not authorized
by law to receive that information.
(2) No other A person authorized by
law to receive criminal offender record information maintained by a
local law enforcement criminal justice agency shall
may not knowingly disclose any information
received therefrom pertaining to an arrest or detention or proceeding
that did not result in a conviction, including information
pertaining to a referral to, and participation in, any pretrial or
posttrial diversion program, to any person not authorized by law to
receive that information.
(3) No A person, except those
specifically referred to in Section 1070 of the Evidence Code,
who knowing he or she is not a person
authorized by law to receive or possess criminal
justice records offender record
information maintained by a local law enforcement criminal justice
agency, pertaining to an arrest or other proceeding that did not
result in a conviction, including information pertaining to a
referral to, and participation in, any pretrial or posttrial
diversion program, shall may not
receive or possess that information.
(h) "A person authorized by law to receive that
criminal offender record information," for purposes of
this section, means any person or public agency authorized by a
court, statute, or decisional law to receive information contained in
criminal offender records maintained by a local law enforcement
criminal justice agency, and includes, but is not limited to, those
persons set forth in Section 11105 of the Penal Code, and any person
employed by a law enforcement criminal justice agency who is required
by that employment to receive, analyze, or process criminal offender
record information.
(i) Nothing in this section shall require the Department of
Justice to remove entries relating to an arrest or detention not
resulting in conviction from summary criminal history records
forwarded to an employer pursuant to law.
(j) As used in this section, "pretrial or posttrial diversion
program" means any program under Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section
1000) or Chapter 2.7 (commencing with Section 1001) of Title 6 of
Part 2 of the Penal Code, Section 13201 or 13352.5 of the Vehicle
Code, or any other program expressly authorized and described by
statute as a diversion program.
(k) (1) Subdivision (a) shall not apply to any city, city and
county, county, or district, or any officer or official thereof, in
screening a prospective concessionaire, or the affiliates and
associates of a prospective concessionaire for purposes of consenting
to, or approving of, the prospective concessionaire's application
for, or acquisition of, any beneficial interest in a concession,
lease, or other property interest.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision the following terms have the
following meanings:
(A) "Screening" means a written request for criminal history
information made to a local law enforcement agency.
(B) "Prospective concessionaire" means any individual, general or
limited partnership, corporation, trust, association, or other entity
that is applying for, or seeking to obtain, a public agency's
consent to, or approval of, the acquisition by that individual or
entity of any beneficial ownership interest in any public agency's
concession, lease, or other property right whether directly or
indirectly held. However, "prospective concessionaire" does not
include any of the following:
(i) A lender acquiring an interest solely as security for a bona
fide loan made in the ordinary course of the lender's business and
not made for the purpose of acquisition.
(ii) A lender upon foreclosure or assignment in lieu of
foreclosure of the lender's security.
(C) "Affiliate" means any individual or entity that controls, or
is controlled by, the prospective concessionaire, or who is under
common control with the prospective concessionaire.
(D) "Associate" means any individual or entity that shares a
common business purpose with the prospective concessionaire with
respect to the beneficial ownership interest that is subject to the
consent or approval of the city, county, city and county, or
district.
(E) "Control" means the possession, direct or indirect, of the
power to direct, or cause the direction of, the management or
policies of the controlled individual or entity.
( l ) (1) Nothing in subdivision (a) shall prohibit a
public agency, or any officer or official thereof, from denying
consent to, or approval of, a prospective concessionaire's
application for, or acquisition of, any beneficial interest in a
concession, lease, or other property interest based on the criminal
history information of the prospective concessionaire or the
affiliates or associates of the prospective concessionaire that show
any criminal conviction for offenses involving moral turpitude.
Criminal history information for purposes of this subdivision
includes any criminal history information obtained pursuant to
Section 11105 or 13300 of the Penal Code.
(2) In considering criminal history information, a public agency
shall consider the crime for which the prospective concessionaire or
the affiliates or associates of the prospective concessionaire was
convicted only if that crime relates to the specific business that is
proposed to be conducted by the prospective concessionaire.
(3) Any prospective concessionaire whose application for consent
or approval to acquire a beneficial interest in a concession, lease,
or other property interest is denied based on criminal history
information shall be provided a written statement of the reason for
the denial.
(4) (A) If the prospective concessionaire submits a written
request to the public agency within 10 days of the date of the notice
of denial, the public agency shall review its decision with regard
to any corrected record or other evidence presented by the
prospective concessionaire as to the accuracy or incompleteness of
the criminal history information utilized by the public agency in
making its original decision.
(B) The prospective concessionaire shall submit the copy or the
corrected record of any other evidence to the public agency within 90
days of a request for review. The public agency shall render its
decision within 20 days of the submission of evidence by the
prospective concessionaire.
(m) (1) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a public entity
described in subdivision (b) of Section 15975 of the Government Code
from doing any of the following:
(A) Requesting or requiring its service providers who have
contracted with the public entity to provide paratransit services to
ask an applicant for employment with regular access to persons with
disabilities to disclose an arrest under any section specified in
Section 290 of the Penal Code.
(B) Receiving the disclosure of information authorized for release
to a government agency under Section 13300 of the Penal Code.
(C) Receiving the disclosure of information authorized for release
under Section 11105 of the Penal Code.
(2) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a service provider
described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) from asking an
applicant for employment with regular access to persons with
disabilities to disclose an arrest under any section specified in
Section 290 of the Penal Code, if requested or required by the public
entity to do so.