Under California Rule of Court Rule 9.9.5, all active attorneys licensed in California must be re-fingerprinted. For active attorneys, the timely deadline to be fingerprinted was April 30, 2019 after which the State Bar began to assess penalties in accordance to the State Bar’s penalty schedule. To avoid being placed on Involuntary Inactive status and being listed in State Bar records as “Not Eligible to Practice,” attorneys must be fingerprinted on or before December 1, 2019. Below is the notification and penalty schedule:
Stages
Description
Timeline
Approval
Rule of Court 9.9.5 Approved
May 23, 2018
Stage 1
Initial Notice of Fingerprinting Rule Requirement
June 1, 2018 - Aug. 3, 2018
Stage 2
Non-Compliance to Rule Notice
Aug. 6, 2018 - Jan. 30, 2019
First Reminder
Aug. 6, 2018 - Sept. 28, 2018
Second Reminder
Oct. 1, 2018 - Nov. 30, 2018
Third Reminder
Dec. 3, 2018 - Jan. 30, 2019
Stage 3
Final Warning Notice
Feb. 4, 2019
Approximately three months to comply
Feb. 4, 2019 - Apr. 30, 2019
Stage 4
Monetary Penalty I - $75
May 1, 2019
May 2, 2019 - July 31, 2019
Stage 5
Monetary Penalty II- $100
Aug. 1, 2019
Approximately four months to comply
Aug. 2, 2019 - Nov. 30, 2019
Final Warning Notice of Status Change
Nov. 1, 2019
Stage 6
Status Change to Involuntary Inactive
Dec. 1, 2019
* Dec. 1, 2018 falls on a Saturday ** Dec. 1, 2019 falls on a Sunday. 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.
Multijurisdictional Practitioner Deadline: Foreign Legal Consultants and Registered In-House Counsel will need to submit fingerprints when renewing their registration by February 1, 2019.