Page 24 - NCISS Your Advocate April 2021

Legislative Update from NCISS Legislative Committee and Lobbyit

Legislative Updates from State Associations

Arizona SB194 (previously HB2320) Criminal Records Expungement bill
(Arizona Association of Licensed Private Investigators – AALPI – Legislative Committee – Rich Robertson, CLI)
Until now, Arizona has not had expungement on its books. Criminal defendants could seek “set asides,” but the record
still exists for all to see and they still had to disclose their history when asked. That would change under SB194
(previously HB2320), a bipartisan effort to allow for certain court, police, jail, and prison records to be sealed after a
period of time. If their records are sealed, it would allow defendants to answer “no” to the have-you-ever-been-arrested
questions on employment or housing applications.

As investigators, our natural reaction is to recoil at sealed criminal records. But, from a social perspective, the idea is to
give people a second chance.

NCISS President Wes Bearden wrote a letter to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ben Toma, expressing concerns about the effects
on employers. “These employers utilize private investigators, pre-employment screening vendors and security
professionals on a routine basis to provide them with accurate and relevant information when evaluating [job]
candidates.”

NCISS member, Rich Robertson CLI, on behalf of the Arizona Association of Licensed Private Investigators (AALPI) was
involved in behind-the-scenes negotiations and he testified before legislative committees. Problems remain from an
investigative perspective, but the sponsor agreed to roll back some of the provisions including making sure criminal
defendants would receive full background disclosures about accusers and witnesses against them.

The bill was still pending in late March, but is likely to be adopted by the legislature and approved by the governor. Here
is a link to the latest summary: H.SB1294_032321_CAUCUSCOW_SE.pdf (azleg.gov)

California Updates – DMV Access and SB 731 Sealing Criminal Histories
(California Association of Licensed Investigators – CALI – Legislative Committee – Francie Koehler, CLI and NCISS Past
President)
CALI continues to work with NCISS and other state associations while advocating to preserve the newly-achieved
statutory authorization for licensed private investigators to hire the services of another licensed private investigator
without that person being considered an employee, to prevent legislation providing an exemption from the PI Act for
human resource consultant businesses, to ensure the implementation of the state’s landmark California Consumer
Privacy Act [CCPA] do not negatively impact the information critical to investigations, to protect the availability of public
records including DMV information for investigations, and to object to proposals that would - prospectively and
retroactively - seal conviction and arrest records.

SB 731 is drafted to completely close off access to all criminal records including felonies except sex offenses two years
after legal procedures are complete. Only Law enforcement and prosecutors will have access. The measure is so broad
that it is quite foreseeable that the provisions would endanger public safety. This information must also be available to
both sides in a criminal proceeding. For instance, in both criminal and civil litigation, this information can be important
to:
• Addressing the credibility of a witness.
• Invoking the Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses with impeachment information.

There are numerous situations where the information that an individual has been convicted of a crime can be of vital
importance to the protection of other members of our society. A few examples include:
• Evaluating stakeholders in mergers, acquisitions, and business partnerships.

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