Why do I need to be re-fingerprinted?
California Rule of Court Rule 9.9.5, requires all active attorneys to be re-fingerprinted. This is done to ensure that the State Bar is in compliance with Business and Professions Code Section 6054, which requires the State Bar to receive notifications of attorney arrests and convictions from the California Department of Justice (DOJ).
For the past 30 years the State Bar has been statutorily required to receive notification of subsequent arrests and convictions from the DOJ. Until 2018, the State Bar was out of compliance with this statutory mandate.
The only way for the State Bar to come fully into compliance is to re-fingerprint licensed attorneys. Although attorneys were fingerprinted at the time of admission to the State Bar, unfortunately neither the State Bar nor the DOJ retained those fingerprints for future notification services.
We apologize for our previous failure to comply with a statutory mandate, and for any inconvenience that may result from the re-fingerprinting attorneys will need to undergo. However this is a new State Bar focused on regulation and public protection. This Rule of Court enables statutory compliance and reflects the State Bar’s commitment to protecting the public.
*The fingerprinting deadline falls on Sunday, December 1, 2019. Please note that Active attorneys who still have not complied by day’s end on Monday, December 2, 2019, will be enrolled as Involuntarily Inactive effective December 3, 2019
If you have additional questions, please contact the Office of Licensee Regulation and Compliance at 888-800-3400 or email your questions to FingerprintRequirements@calbar.ca.gov.