(a) Any record filed with the Department of Justice shall indicate the disposition in those cases referred to pretrial diversion pursuant to this chapter. Upon successful completion of a pretrial diversion program, the arrest upon which the defendant was diverted shall be deemed to have never occurred and the court may issue an order to seal the records pertaining to the arrest as described in Section 851.92. The defendant may indicate in response to any question concerning his or her prior criminal record that he or she was not arrested or granted pretrial diversion for the offense, except as specified in subdivision (c). A record pertaining to an arrest resulting in successful completion of a pretrial diversion program shall not, without the defendant’s consent, be used in any way that could result in the denial of any employment, benefit, license, or certificate, except that, as specified in Section 492 of the Business and Professions Code, successful completion of a pretrial diversion program shall not prohibit any agency established under Division 2 (commencing with Section 500) of the Business and Professions Code, or under any initiative act referred to in that division, from taking disciplinary action against a licensee or from denying a license for professional misconduct, notwithstanding that evidence of that misconduct may be recorded in a record pertaining to an arrest leading to successful completion of a pretrial diversion program.

(b) Notwithstanding any other law, any licensing agency listed in Section 144 of the Business and Professions Code may request, and is authorized to receive, from a local or state agency certified records regarding referral to, participation in, successful completion of, and termination from, diversion programs described in this section.

(c) The defendant shall be advised that, regardless of his or her successful completion of the pretrial diversion program, the arrest upon which the pretrial diversion was based may be disclosed by the Department of Justice in response to any peace officer application request and that, notwithstanding subdivision (a), this section does not relieve him or her of the obligation to disclose the arrest in response to any direct question contained in any questionnaire or application for a position as a peace officer, as defined in Section 830.

(d) The defendant shall be advised that, regardless of the defendant’s successful completion of a pretrial diversion program, an order to seal records pertaining to an arrest made pursuant to this section has no effect on a criminal justice agency’s ability to access and use those sealed records and information regarding sealed arrests, as described in Section 851.92.

(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 778, Sec. 5.5. (AB 208) Effective January 1, 2018.)