UPDATE: September 30, 2022
California SB 1262 Vetoed by the Governor

We want to inform you that on September 29, Governor Gavin Newsom chose to veto SB 1262. For employers and the background screening industry, this is very disappointing news as his signature would have meant that previously redacted court case information would be restored beginning January 2023.

PBSA and its allies—including A-Check Global—will continue to work closely together to determine options at this stage. Of course, we will continue to provide our valued clients with updates in the near future. And as always, we thank you for your business.

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As you know, Consumer Reporting Agencies like A-Check Global rely on personal information within court indexes as an accuracy indicator during criminal background screening. We previously reported that more than 30% of California’s 58 counties were now redacting Date of Birth and other critical identifying information from criminal case records. We would like to now follow up with some great news.

The California State Assembly recently passed Senate Bill 1262 (SB 1262)—important legislation designed specifically to help stop delays in criminal background checks. This legislation will next be heading to the desk of California Governor Gavin Newsom for final approval and signature and will once again require publicly accessible electronic indexes of defendants in criminal cases to permit searches and filtering of results based on a defendant’s driver’s license number or date of birth, or both. For employers as well as the background screening industry, this is welcome news. Once the Governor signs the bill, previously redacted court case information is expected to be restored starting January 2023. We will certainly keep you updated as this progresses.

Your business means the world to us and we look forward to serving our valued California customers, as well as those nationwide and around the world, for years to come. We’re here to help if you have any questions.