As you may know, Sterling is currently experiencing delays in fulfilling some county court searches in the state of California, specifically in Los Angeles County. These delays are due to recent legal action that has made it increasingly difficult to obtain identifiers needed to fulfill searches. These issues are impacting not only Sterling, but all court researchers and all background screening companies.
A ruling in a case titled All of Us or None vs. Hamrick is being used by county court clerks to justify withholding of full date of birth information and driver’s license numbers, most notably in Los Angeles county. Full date of birth information (month, day and year of birth) is a key identifier that’s used to match candidates to court records. Without full date of birth, it is increasingly difficult to obtain sufficient information to effectively match subjects to records.
Sterling will continue to offer services in all California counties by taking additional steps to find sufficient identifiers as required by law to match a candidate to a record. However, please be advised that criminal checks in some California counties will likely take longer than usual due to the additional steps needed to look for additional identifiers. While the issue today is limited to Los Angeles County, other counties may follow suit and we expect this situation to continue as identifiers become scarcer. In all cases, if sufficient identifiers are not available to meet our legal requirements and reporting standards, records will be cleared. We are exploring all possible resources to continue to fulfill your search requests.
Sterling is working with our trade associations to restore access to identifiers. Unfortunately, there is no quick path to resolution, and we anticipate this issue will continue in the foreseeable future.
We will continue to keep you up to date, and we understand that you may have questions and concerns, so please feel free to contact your Sterling Client Success representative.
Sterling is not a law firm, and this communication does not constitute legal advice. Clients should consult with their legal counsel for advice on all legal matters.