Prisons: clearances.

Senator Cortese's prison access legislation establishes standardized clearance procedures for legal professionals while streamlining facility entry for specified state officials. The measure creates a uniform annual clearance process for attorneys and their representatives to provide legal services across California state prisons, with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation required to process applications within 30 days.

The bill defines legal professionals to include licensed attorneys along with their sponsored representatives - such as private investigators, law students, legal paraprofessionals, and employees of legal service organizations. These professionals must complete standardized clearance forms and renew their authorization annually. The department must notify applicants of approval decisions within 30 days, or provide status updates when awaiting Department of Justice background check results.

A separate provision grants automatic short-term clearance upon request to specific government officials, including the Governor and cabinet members, legislators and their staff, and current state judges. This allows these officials to enter correctional facilities without completing the standard clearance application process. The measure builds upon existing clearance categories for program providers, which include short-term, annual, and statewide authorizations for those delivering rehabilitative services to incarcerated individuals.