SECTIONS 13300-13305 - California Statutes

PENAL CODE

SECTION 13300-13305

13300. (a) As used in this section:
(1) "Local summary criminal history information" means the master
record of information compiled by any local criminal justice agency
pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 13100) of Title 3 of
Part 4 pertaining to the identification and criminal history of any
person, such as name, date of birth, physical description, dates of
arrests, arresting agencies and booking numbers, charges,
dispositions, and similar data about the person.
(2) "Local summary criminal history information" does not refer to
records and data compiled by criminal justice agencies other than
that local agency, nor does it refer to records of complaints to or
investigations conducted by, or records of intelligence information
or security procedures of, the local agency.
(3) "Local agency" means a local criminal justice agency.
(b) A local agency shall furnish local summary criminal history
information to any of the following, when needed in the course of
their duties, provided that when information is furnished to assist
an agency, officer, or official of state or local government, a
public utility, or any entity, in fulfilling employment,
certification, or licensing duties, Chapter 1321 of the Statutes of
1974 and Section 432.7 of the Labor Code shall apply:
(1) The courts of the state.
(2) Peace officers of the state, as defined in Section 830.1,
subdivisions (a) and (d) of Section 830.2, subdivisions (a), (b), and
(j) of Section 830.3, and subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) of Section
830.5.
(3) District attorneys of the state.
(4) Prosecuting city attorneys of any city within the state.
(5) City attorneys pursuing civil gang injunctions pursuant to
Section 186.22a, or drug abatement actions pursuant to Section 3479
or 3480 of the Civil Code, or Section 11571 of the Health and Safety
Code.
(6) Probation officers of the state.
(7) Parole officers of the state.
(8) A public defender or attorney of record when representing a
person in proceedings upon a petition for a certificate of
rehabilitation and pardon pursuant to Section 4852.08.
(9) A public defender or attorney of record when representing a
person in a criminal case and when authorized access by statutory or
decisional law.
(10) Any agency, officer, or official of the state when the local
summary criminal history information is required to implement a
statute, regulation, or ordinance that expressly refers to specific
criminal conduct applicable to the subject person of the local
summary criminal history information, and contains requirements or
exclusions, or both, expressly based upon the specified criminal
conduct.
(11) Any city, county, city and county, or district, or any
officer or official thereof, when access is needed in order to assist
the agency, officer, or official in fulfilling employment,
certification, or licensing duties, and when the access is
specifically authorized by the city council, board of supervisors, or
governing board of the city, county, or district when the local
summary criminal history information is required to implement a
statute, regulation, or ordinance that expressly refers to specific
criminal conduct applicable to the subject person of the local
summary criminal history information, and contains requirements or
exclusions, or both, expressly based upon the specified criminal
conduct.
(12) The subject of the local summary criminal history
information.
(13) Any person or entity when access is expressly authorized by
statute when the local summary criminal history information is
required to implement a statute, regulation, or ordinance that
expressly refers to specific criminal conduct applicable to the
subject person of the local summary criminal history information, and
contains requirements or exclusions, or both, expressly based upon
the specified criminal conduct.
(14) Any managing or supervising correctional officer of a county
jail or other county correctional facility.
(15) Local child support agencies established by Section 17304 of
the Family Code. When a local child support agency closes a support
enforcement case containing summary criminal history information, the
agency shall delete or purge from the file and destroy any documents
or information concerning or arising from offenses for or of which
the parent has been arrested, charged, or convicted, other than for
offenses related to the parents having failed to provide support for
the minor children, consistent with Section 17531 of the Family Code.
(16) County child welfare agency personnel who have been delegated
the authority of county probation officers to access state summary
criminal information pursuant to Section 272 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code for the purposes specified in Section 16504.5 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(17) A humane officer pursuant to Section 14502 of the
Corporations Code for the purposes of performing his or her duties. A
local agency may charge a reasonable fee sufficient to cover the
costs of providing information pursuant to this paragraph.
(c) The local agency may furnish local summary criminal history
information, upon a showing of a compelling need, to any of the
following, provided that when information is furnished to assist an
agency, officer, or official of state or local government, a public
utility, or any entity, in fulfilling employment, certification, or
licensing duties, Chapter 1321 of the Statutes of 1974 and Section
432.7 of the Labor Code shall apply:
(1) Any public utility, as defined in Section 216 of the Public
Utilities Code, which operates a nuclear energy facility when access
is needed to assist in employing persons to work at the facility,
provided that, if the local agency supplies the information, it shall
furnish a copy of this information to the person to whom the
information relates.
(2) To a peace officer of the state other than those included in
subdivision (b).
(3) To a peace officer of another country.
(4) To public officers, other than peace officers, of the United
States, other states, or possessions or territories of the United
States, provided that access to records similar to local summary
criminal history information is expressly authorized by a statute of
the United States, other states, or possessions or territories of the
United States when this information is needed for the performance of
their official duties.
(5) To any person when disclosure is requested by a probation,
parole, or peace officer with the consent of the subject of the local
summary criminal history information and for purposes of furthering
the rehabilitation of the subject.
(6) The courts of the United States, other states, or territories
or possessions of the United States.
(7) Peace officers of the United States, other states, or
territories or possessions of the United States.
(8) To any individual who is the subject of the record requested
when needed in conjunction with an application to enter the United
States or any foreign nation.
(9) Any public utility, as defined in Section 216 of the Public
Utilities Code, when access is needed to assist in employing persons
who will be seeking entrance to private residences in the course of
their employment. The information provided shall be limited to the
record of convictions and any arrest for which the person is released
on bail or on his or her own recognizance pending trial.
If the local agency supplies the information pursuant to this
paragraph, it shall furnish a copy of the information to the person
to whom the information relates.
Any information obtained from the local summary criminal history
is confidential and the receiving public utility shall not disclose
its contents, other than for the purpose for which it was acquired.
The local summary criminal history information in the possession of
the public utility and all copies made from it shall be destroyed 30
days after employment is denied or granted, including any appeal
periods, except for those cases where an employee or applicant is out
on bail or on his or her own recognizance pending trial, in which
case the state summary criminal history information and all copies
shall be destroyed 30 days after the case is resolved, including any
appeal periods.
A violation of any of the provisions of this paragraph is a
misdemeanor, and shall give the employee or applicant who is injured
by the violation a cause of action against the public utility to
recover damages proximately caused by the violation.
Nothing in this section shall be construed as imposing any duty
upon public utilities to request local summary criminal history
information on any current or prospective employee.
Seeking entrance to private residences in the course of employment
shall be deemed a "compelling need" as required to be shown in this
subdivision.
(10) Any city, county, city and county, or district, or any
officer or official thereof, if a written request is made to a local
law enforcement agency and the information is needed to assist in the
screening of a prospective concessionaire, and any affiliate or
associate thereof, as these terms are defined in subdivision (k) of
Section 432.7 of the Labor Code, for the 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.
Any local government's request for local summary criminal history
information for purposes of screening a prospective concessionaire
and their affiliates or associates before approving or denying an
application for, or acquisition of, any beneficial interest in a
concession, lease, or other property interest is deemed a "compelling
need" as required by this subdivision. However, only local summary
criminal history information pertaining to criminal convictions may
be obtained pursuant to this paragraph.
Any information obtained from the local summary criminal history
is confidential and the receiving local government shall not disclose
its contents, other than for the purpose for which it was acquired.
The local summary criminal history information in the possession of
the local government and all copies made from it shall be destroyed
not more than 30 days after the local government's final decision to
grant or deny consent to, or approval of, the prospective
concessionaire's application for, or acquisition of, a beneficial
interest in a concession, lease, or other property interest. Nothing
in this section shall be construed as imposing any duty upon a local
government, or any officer or official thereof, to request local
summary criminal history information on any current or prospective
concessionaire or their affiliates or associates.
(d) Whenever an authorized request for local summary criminal
history information pertains to a person whose fingerprints are on
file with the local agency and the local agency has no criminal
history of that person, and the information is to be used for
employment, licensing, or certification purposes, the fingerprint
card accompanying the request for information, if any, may be stamped
"no criminal record" and returned to the person or entity making the
request.
(e) A local agency taking fingerprints of a person who is an
applicant for licensing, employment, or certification may charge a
fee to cover the cost of taking the fingerprints and processing the
required documents.
(f) Whenever local summary criminal history information furnished
pursuant to this section is to be used for employment, licensing, or
certification purposes, the local agency shall charge the person or
entity making the request a fee which it determines to be sufficient
to reimburse the local agency for the cost of furnishing the
information, provided that no fee shall be charged to any public law
enforcement agency for local summary criminal history information
furnished to assist it in employing, licensing, or certifying a
person who is applying for employment with the agency as a peace
officer or criminal investigator. Any state agency required to pay a
fee to the local agency for information received under this section
may charge the applicant a fee sufficient to reimburse the agency for
the expense.
(g) Whenever there is a conflict, the processing of criminal
fingerprints shall take priority over the processing of applicant
fingerprints.
(h) It is not a violation of this article to disseminate
statistical or research information obtained from a record, provided
that the identity of the subject of the record is not disclosed.
(i) It is not a violation of this article to include information
obtained from a record in (1) a transcript or record of a judicial or
administrative proceeding or (2) any other public record when the
inclusion of the information in the public record is authorized by a
court, statute, or decisional law.
(j) Notwithstanding any other law, a public prosecutor may, in
response to a written request made pursuant to Section 6253 of the
Government Code, provide information from a local summary criminal
history, if release of the information would enhance public safety,
the interest of justice, or the public's understanding of the justice
system and the person making the request declares that the request
is made for a scholarly or journalistic purpose. If a person in a
declaration required by this subdivision willfully states as true any
material fact that he or she knows to be false, he or she shall be
subject to a civil penalty not exceeding ten thousand dollars
($10,000). The requestor shall be informed in writing of this
penalty. An action to impose a civil penalty under this subdivision
may be brought by any public prosecutor and shall be enforced as a
civil judgment.
(k) Notwithstanding any other law, the Department of Justice or
any state or local law enforcement agency may require the submission
of fingerprints for the purpose of conducting summary criminal
history information record checks which are authorized by law.
(l) Any local criminal justice agency may release, within five
years of the arrest, information concerning an arrest or detention of
a peace officer or applicant for a position as a peace officer, as
defined in Section 830, which did not result in conviction, and for
which the person did not complete a postarrest diversion program or a
deferred entry of judgment program, to a government agency employer
of that peace officer or applicant.
(m) Any local criminal justice agency may release information
concerning an arrest of a peace officer or applicant for a position
as a peace officer, as defined in Section 830, which did not result
in conviction but for which the person completed a postarrest
diversion program or a deferred entry of judgment program, or
information concerning a referral to and participation in any
postarrest diversion program or a deferred entry of judgment program
to a government agency employer of that peace officer or applicant.
(n) Notwithstanding subdivision (l) or (m), a local criminal
justice agency shall not release information under the following
circumstances:
(1) Information concerning an arrest for which diversion or a
deferred entry of judgment program has been ordered without
attempting to determine whether diversion or a deferred entry of
judgment program has been successfully completed.
(2) Information concerning an arrest or detention followed by a
dismissal or release without attempting to determine whether the
individual was exonerated.
(3) Information concerning an arrest without a disposition without
attempting to determine whether diversion has been successfully
completed or the individual was exonerated.

13301. As used in this article:
(a) "Record" means the master local summary criminal history
information as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 13300, or a copy
thereof.
(b) "A person authorized by law to receive a record" means any
person or public agency authorized by a court, statute, or decisional
law to receive a record.

13302. Any employee of the local criminal justice agency who
knowingly furnishes a record or information obtained from a record to
a person who is not authorized by law to receive the record or
information is guilty of a misdemeanor.

13303. Any person authorized by law to receive a record or
information obtained from a record who knowingly furnishes the record
or information to a person who is not authorized by law to receive
the record or information is guilty of a misdemeanor.

13304. Any person, except those specifically referred to in Section
1070 of the Evidence Code, who, knowing he is not authorized by law
to receive a record or information obtained from a record, knowingly
buys, receives, or possesses the record or information is guilty of a
misdemeanor.

13305. (a) It is not a violation of this article to disseminate
statistical or research information obtained from a record, provided
that the identity of the subject of the record is not disclosed.
(b) It is not a violation of this article to disseminate
information obtained from a record for the purpose of assisting in
the apprehension of a person wanted in connection with the commission
of a crime.
(c) It is not a violation of this article to include information
obtained from a record in (1) a transcript or record of a judicial or
administrative proceeding or (2) any other public record when the
inclusion of the information in the public record is authorized by a
court, statute, or decisional law.