Jeffries Wants Background Checks For Firefighters

Murrieta’s state assemblyman introduced a bill to require Cal Fire to do background checks on new hires.

Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore, introduced the bill, called AB 163, last week. It calls for the California Department of Forestry to do background checks on all new full-time employees.

The department now only checks firefighters who are also paramedics, EMTs or are involved in a law enforcement program, said Julie Hutchinson, a battalion chief and spokesperson for Cal Fire.

While Murrieta has its own fire department, Cal Fire runs stations in unincorporated parts of the Murrieta area, in neighboring Temecula and in most other cities in Riverside County.

Jeffries introduced the bill once before, but it was killed along party lines, he said.

“Once again, the argument against the bill was that convicted felons need to be able to obtain employment in the fire service,” he said in an emailed statement. “My rebuttal was basically, sure, some rehabilitated felons could be considered, but shouldn’t we know exactly what type of crime they committed before we blindly hire them? Shouldn’t we know if they are a convicted arsonist?”

Cal Fire supports the bill, but finding the money to fund it is a problem, Hutchinson said. “We have no funding to do that without shutting down engines and other vital services,” she said. “We support doing background checks, we just don’t have the funding.”

The bill bars the department from charging the applicant for the background check.

Though the bill was killed, he was granted reconsideration and hopes to have a second shot at getting the votes in the next few weeks, Jeffries wrote in a statement.

The bill conflicts with the Civic Rights Act and the Labor Code, according to a house analysis of the bill.

“An employer may not base an employment decision on the conviction record of an applicant absent business necessity,” the Civil Rights Act states. “Business necessity can be established where the applicant in engaged in conduct which is particularly egregious or related to the position in question.”

It also requires the Fire Department to check on arrests, even if they failed to lead to a conviction. This violates the Labor Code, the analysis states.

To read the bill's text, click here.