(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when a person is required to submit fingerprints or a fingerprint card to the Department of Justice for a criminal background investigation for purposes of employment, certification, or licensing, and the department determines either that it is impossible for the person to submit fingerprints or that the submitted fingerprints are not legible for identification purposes, the department, in its discretion, shall do either of the following:

(1) Make a determination that the person presently is unable to provide legible fingerprints, and therefore shall be deemed to have complied with the statutory requirement to submit fingerprints. The department, using available personal identifying data that the department deems appropriate, shall then conduct a search to determine if the person has a criminal history.

(2) Request that the person submit a second set of fingerprints or obtain verification from another law enforcement agency that he or she is unable to provide legible fingerprint impressions either manually or electronically. If the department requests law enforcement verification of the quality of fingerprints that the person is able to provide, it may designate the law enforcement agency that is to provide the verification and provide a form for the verification. If the second set of fingerprints is illegible or if the designated law enforcement agency verifies that the person is unable to submit legible fingerprints, the person shall be deemed to have complied with the statutory requirement to submit fingerprints, and the department, using available personal identifying data it deems appropriate, shall conduct a search to determine if the person has a criminal history.

(b) After a search of its data bases pursuant to subdivision (a), the department shall issue a certificate regarding the criminal history of the applicant to the employing, licensing, or certifying agency. This certificate shall indicate whether or not the applicant has any reportable criminal history for purposes of the employment, license, or certificate the applicant is seeking. The agency shall be entitled to receive information regarding any reportable offenses and may use this information to make a determination of eligibility.

(c) Whenever the department determines pursuant to this section that a person has a criminal record, the person shall be provided an opportunity to question the accuracy or completeness of any material matter contained in the record, under the procedures provided in Section 11126.

(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that this section shall only apply to those persons who are unable to supply legible fingerprints due to disability, illness, accident, or other circumstances beyond their control and does not apply to persons who are unable to provide fingerprints because of actions they have taken to avoid submitting their fingerprints.

(Added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 452, Sec. 1. Effective September 14, 1998.)