State and local law enforcement and licensing bodies and departments, officers and employees thereof, and officials and attachés of the courts of this state shall cooperate with and give reasonable assistance and information, including the providing of state summary criminal history information and local summary criminal history information, to the State Bar of California or any authorized representative thereof, in connection with any investigation or proceeding within the jurisdiction of the State Bar of California, regarding the admission to the practice of law or discipline of attorneys or their reinstatement to the practice of law.
The State Bar of California shall require that an applicant for admission or reinstatement to the practice of law in California, or may require a member pursuant to subdivision (k) or (l) of Section 6068, be fingerprinted in order to establish the identity of the applicant and in order to determine whether the applicant or member has a record of criminal conviction in this state or in other states. The information obtained as a result of the fingerprinting of an applicant or member shall be limited to the official use of the State Bar in establishing the identity of the applicant and in determining the character and fitness of the applicant for admission or reinstatement, and in discovering prior and subsequent criminal arrests of an applicant, member, or applicant for reinstatement. All fingerprint records of applicants who are denied admission to the State Bar shall be destroyed within one year of the decision not to admit. All fingerprint records of applicants admitted or members reinstated, or provided pursuant to subdivision (k) or (l) of Section 6068, shall be retained thereafter for the limited purpose of criminal arrest notification.
All costs of providing criminal history information to, and the processing of fingerprints for, the State Bar, except for print furnishing and encoding, as required by this section, shall be borne by the State Bar.