| Entities | California (31) |
| Topics and Issues | Employment Screening (20) Expungement (3) |
In 2022, California passed S.B. 731 on automatic expungements.
below is the leg counsel summary of the soon-to-be new law. The most relevant changes to CDIA members, employers, and others come in Sections 3 through 7 of the bill, which adds to and amends various sections in the Penal Code. Below is a leg counsel summary:
- This bill would, commencing July 1, 2023, generally make this arrest record relief available to a person who has been arrested for a felony, including a felony punishable in the state prison, as specified.
- Existing law, commencing January 1, 2022, and subject to appropriation, requires the Department of Justice, on a monthly basis, to review the records in the statewide criminal justice databases and identify persons who are eligible for automatic conviction record relief. Under existing law, a person is eligible for automatic conviction record relief if, on or after January 1, 1973, they were sentenced to probation, and completed it without revocation, or if they were convicted of an infraction or a misdemeanor, and other criteria are met, as specified.
- The bill, commencing July 1, 2023, would additionally make this conviction record relief available for a defendant convicted, on or after January 1, 2005, of a felony for which they did not complete probation without revocation if the defendant appears to have completed all terms of incarceration, probation, mandatory supervision, postrelease community supervision, and parole, and a period of 4 years has elapsed during which the defendant was not convicted of a new felony offense, except as specified. The bill would specify that conviction record relief does not release the defendant from the terms and conditions of unexpired criminal protective orders.
- This bill would state that conviction record relief does not affect the authority to receive, or take adverse action based on, criminal history information for purposes of teacher credentialing or employment in public education, as specified. The bill would prohibit disclosure of information relating to a conviction for possession of specified controlled substances when the conviction is more than 5 years old and when relief has been granted under these provisions.
- This bill would require the department to also provide that information to school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, private schools, state special schools for the blind and deaf, or any other entity required to have a background check because of a contract with any of those entities. The bill would prohibit the department from disseminating information for a conviction for possession of specified controlled substances if that conviction is more than 5 years old and relief has been granted. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.