AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 14, 2025

AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 11, 2025

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

95

CHAPTER 619

Statutes of 2025

[ Approved by Governor October 11, 2025. Filed with Secretary of State October 11, 2025. ]

Introduced by Assembly Member Ransom

February 18, 2025

An act to amend Section 11105.04 of the Penal Code, relating to the Department of Justice.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law requires the Department of Justice to maintain an index of all reports of child abuse and severe neglect submitted by an agency mandated to make those reports. Existing law requires the department to make relevant information contained in the index available to specified law enforcement agencies, county welfare departments, and other agencies that are conducting a child abuse investigation.

Existing law authorizes a designated Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program to submit fingerprint images and related information of employment and volunteer candidates to the department for the purpose of obtaining information as to the existence and nature of a record of a child abuse investigation contained in the Child Abuse Central Index, state- or federal-level convictions, or state- or federal-level arrests for which the department establishes that the applicant was released on bail or on their own recognizance pending trial. Existing law requires the department to charge a fee sufficient to cover the cost of processing the requests for federal-level criminal offender record information and prohibits the department from charging a fee for state-level criminal offender record information.

This bill would instead require a CASA program to submit fingerprint images and related information of employment and volunteer candidates to the department for the purpose of conducting a state and federal criminal history background check. The bill would require the department to monitor the Child Abuse Central Index and notify the CASA program if a record of a child abuse investigation involving a CASA employee or volunteer is added to that index. The bill would impose notification and review requirements on a CASA program to request that the department remove the notification for an individual who is no longer employed by or volunteering with the CASA program, as specified. The bill would require the department to terminate notification for an individual upon receipt of that request. The bill would authorize the department to increase its fee for a CASA employment and volunteer candidate to cover the cost of processing those subsequent notifications.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 11105.04 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

11105.04.

(a) A designated Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program shall submit to the Department of Justice fingerprint images and related information of employment and volunteer candidates for the purpose of conducting a state and federal criminal history background check, pursuant to subdivision (u) of Section 11105, and obtaining information as to the existence and nature of a record of a child abuse investigation contained in the Child Abuse Central Index.

(b) When requesting state-level criminal offender record information pursuant to this section, the designated CASA program shall request a subsequent arrest notification, pursuant to Section 11105.2, for all employment and volunteer candidates.

(c) (1) The department shall monitor the Child Abuse Central Index and notify the CASA program if a record of a child abuse investigation involving a CASA employee or volunteer is subsequently added to the Child Abuse Central Index.

(2) (A) If a CASA program knows that an individual for whom notification is requested is no longer in a position for which notification is authorized, the CASA program shall immediately notify the department to terminate notification for that individual.

(B) The department shall terminate notification for the individual upon receipt of the notification required in subparagraph (A).

(3) Not less than every six months, a CASA program shall verify that each individual for whom notification has not been terminated is still in a position with the program for which notification is authorized.

(4) If a CASA program receives a subsequent notification for an individual unknown to the CASA program or for whom the CASA program terminated notification, it shall immediately inform the department that the individual is unknown to the CASA program or that it terminated the notification request for the individual.

(d) The department shall provide a state- and federal-level response pursuant to subdivision (p) of Section 11105.

(e) (1) The department shall charge a fee sufficient to cover the cost of processing the requests for federal-level criminal offender record information.

(2) The department shall not charge a fee for state-level criminal offender record information.

(3) The department may increase its fee for a CASA employment and volunteer candidate sufficient to cover the cost of processing subsequent notifications of a child abuse investigation from the Child Abuse Central Index.

(f) For purposes of this section:

(1) A designated CASA program is a local court-appointed special advocate program as described in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 100) of Part 1 of Division 2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(2) There shall be only one designated CASA program in each California county.