A decades-long recordkeeping error in Los Angeles County left hundreds of thousands of criminal case outcomes unreported to California’s Department of Justice. About 464,000 arrest reports from 1980–2023 — including roughly 147,000 felony and 233,000 misdemeanor convictions — were missing from statewide databases. As the records are corrected, nearly 330,000 people may see their criminal histories updated. The change could affect background checks, potentially leading to job losses, revoked professional licenses, immigration complications, or loss of firearm eligibility.
