Los Angeles employers and those considering applicants who have lived or worked in the city rely on comprehensive background checks to make informed hiring decisions.
Background checks help employers verify their new hires are trustworthy and qualified, but the state heavily regulates the employment screening process.
Recently, the Los Angeles Superior Court issued a notice that it will no longer allow searches based on dates of birth at its terminals or on its website, which will make background checks much more difficult.
Name-only searches fail to satisfy the requirements CRAs must follow to confirm a criminal record belongs to a specific individual.
This means employers can expect criminal background checks for employment from Los Angeles to take much longer than previously.
Here’s what to know.
Los Angeles Superior Court Public Notice
On Feb. 23, 2024, the Los Angeles Superior Court issued a public notice that it is revising search procedures for criminal case information.
The county has since removed the date of birth search option for records on its Public Access Terminals and its website.
This means that only name-based searches can now be conducted, which is problematic for employers and CRAs alike.
Name-based searches run the risk of confusing individuals with the same or similar name when date-of-birth information can make it easy to distinguish between similarly named individuals.
The removal of dates of birth as a search option in Los Angeles County means that employers looking for criminal record information for California background checks in the state’s most populous county could run into roadblocks.
CRAs must follow FCRA Rule 607(b). This rule requires CRAs to implement reasonable procedures to confirm that a record belongs to a specific individual before reporting it.
Previously, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has specified that a name-only search doesn’t satisfy the reasonableness requirement.
The notice also recalls a similar decision made by the California Court of Appeal in All of Us or None of Us vs. Hamrick, Cal. Ct. App., 4th Appellate Dist., 1st Div. No. D076524 (2021), which similarly ordered court clerks to redact dates of birth and driver’s license numbers from court records in Riverside.
Los Angeles Superior Court’s Decision a Progeny of Hamrick
The Hamrick decision, which we have previously written about, dealt with a challenge to the inclusion of dates of birth and driver’s license numbers on court records in Riverside County.
The plaintiffs argued that the inclusion of this information on criminal case records violated Cal. Court Rule 2.507, which prohibits the inclusion of certain types of personal identifying information on publicly available court records.
The Court of Appeal found for the plaintiffs, which led the Riverside Superior Court to redact dates of birth and driver’s license numbers from their court records.
The California Supreme Court subsequently denied review of the decision, which meant it was binding on the courts in Riverside County.
However, even though it only was binding in that county, it was believed that courts in other jurisdictions would likely follow.
With the notice in the Los Angeles Superior Court, it appears that the largest county in the state has now followed suit and implemented a similar rule as to what was mandated in the Hamrick decision.
What Happened in Riverside County Following Hamrick?
Following the decision in Hamrick, background checks were greatly slowed when criminal information was needed from Riverside County.
This is because background screening services could no longer use dates of birth or driver’s license numbers, two important pieces of personally identifying information, to verify records belonging to a specific individual.
Industry standards require background screening providers to use a minimum of two points of verifying information before they can report the existence of criminal records.
The removal of dates of birth and driver’s license numbers from court indexes meant that the screening process bogged down for applicants from Riverside County.
In 2022, the California Legislature attempted to rectify this problem with SB1262. That bill would have required publicly available court indexes to allow searches by dates of birth and driver’s license numbers.
However, Gov. Newsom vetoed that bill, which meant the decision in Hamrick still controls the Riverside Superior Court.
Given the removal of the ability to search by date of birth on public access terminals and online in Los Angeles County, employers should expect similar problems when conducting criminal background checks in Los Angeles as they have experienced in Riverside County.
However, the problems in Los Angeles Superior Court will likely be worse than in Riverside based on the county’s significantly larger population.
Know Before You Hire
How the Decision by Los Angeles County Superior Court Will Affect Background Checks
Removing the date of birth search filed from publicly accessible terminals and the court’s website will substantially complicate pre-employment background checks on candidates from Los Angeles for both employers and background check companies.
The change means that CRAs and employers won’t be able to distinguish between applicants and those with similar names while searching Los Angeles criminal records online or at the county’s public access terminals.
CRAs and employers will only be able to complete name-based searches through these methods.
As previously mentioned, industry standards require companies like iprospectcheck to use at least two identifiers to confirm that criminal records belong to a specific individual, and the inability to search based on an applicant’s date of birth will hamper those efforts.
Employers can anticipate that Los Angeles criminal background checks will take significantly longer because of the court’s change in how searches can be conducted.
Searching court records is important because doing so allows CRAs to gather complete and accurate criminal history information when conducting pre-employment background checks.
This decision will make it harder for employers with applicants who have lived or worked in Los Angeles County to receive comprehensive and accurate criminal history information on background check reports.
CRAs can request court case records.
However, the ability of court clerks to timely provide them varies. Some courts limit the number of court case records requested to no more than five per day, which is untenable for many organizations.
This change will likely greatly slow down the ability of CRAs to provide comprehensive criminal history information on applicants from Los Angeles County.
While there isn’t a simple or quick fix for this complicated issue, our team here at iprospectcheck is studying the change and we have already implemented technologies to reduce the risk of false positives.
iprospectcheck: Your Partner for Comprehensive, Compliant Background Checks
The decision to prevent searches by anything other than the individual’s name in Los Angeles County when searching for criminal records will present a large obstacle for employers and CRAs.
However, iprospectcheck is taking steps to work around this issue and continue to provide accurate and compliant background check information to employers.
Learn more about this decision and how we can help by contacting us today: (888) 509-1979
DISCLAIMER: The resources provided here are for educational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Consult your counsel if you have legal questions related to your specific practices and compliance with applicable laws.
