California Commission on Teacher Credentialing

Getting a California teaching credential with a criminal record

Teacher credentialing is the strictest process on this list for a narrow category of offences, and more flexible than people expect for everything else. The Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) requires full disclosure of your criminal history on its fitness form, then routes most convictions through an individualized review -- except for two categories where state law takes the decision out of CTC's hands.

You have to disclose everything, dismissal or not

CTC's Personal and Professional Fitness Explanation Form requires applicants to disclose all misdemeanor and felony convictions, including no-contest pleas, no matter how much time has passed, even if the case has been dismissed under Penal Code section 1203.4. There is a narrow carve-out for certain old marijuana misdemeanors under Health and Safety Code sections 11361.5 and 11361.7, but almost everything else has to be disclosed. Treating non-disclosure as application falsification is itself grounds for denial or discipline, separate from whatever the underlying conviction was.

The mandatory-denial category

Education Code section 44346 requires CTC to deny a credential application or renewal for a conviction of a specified sex offence or a specified controlled-substance offence -- this is not discretionary the way most licensing decisions are. There is a narrow exception, but it requires both pieces, not just one: a Certificate of Rehabilitation and pardon under Penal Code section 4852.01 and following, and a dismissal of the conviction under Penal Code section 1203.4. Having only the 1203.4 dismissal, without the Certificate of Rehabilitation, is not enough for this specific category -- which surprises a lot of people, since a 1203.4 dismissal is usually the main thing that opens doors elsewhere.

Controlled-substance offences get a bit more room

For controlled-substance convictions specifically, section 44346(c) gives CTC somewhat more discretion than it has for sex offences: CTC may issue a credential where five years of rehabilitation is shown, or where a pardon, rehabilitation relief, or dismissal has been granted. Certain older convictions under Health and Safety Code sections 11350 or 11377 -- at least five years old, with a 1203.4 dismissal -- cannot be used to deny you at all.

Everything else: individualized review

Outside the mandatory-denial category, CTC's Committee of Credentials -- a statutorily created body that investigates allegations of misconduct and reviews the moral fitness of applicants and credential holders -- looks at the nature of the offence, how long ago it happened, and evidence of rehabilitation. Applications that disclose a fitness issue get routed into extended review, well beyond CTC's standard processing timeline for a clean application.

The Certificate of Clearance comes first

Before CTC issues most credentials, you need a Certificate of Clearance -- confirmation that you have completed CTC's fingerprint and character review through DOJ and FBI Live Scan. If anything in your history needs a closer look, it surfaces here, before you are ever in front of a classroom.

What the Committee of Credentials weighs

• Whether the offence involved a minor, violence, or a position of trust over students
• How much time has passed and whether there is a documented pattern or a single incident
• Evidence of rehabilitation: education, employment, counseling, references
• Whether a Certificate of Rehabilitation and/or a 1203.4 dismissal has already been obtained

If you are already teaching

A new arrest or conviction during your credentialing period triggers mandatory reporting to CTC and can open a separate fitness review. The mandatory-denial rule under section 44346 applies the same way to a renewal as it does to a first-time application.

Official source: California Commission on Teacher Credentialing

Legal information on this page was last checked against primary sources in October 2026. California law changes; if you are reading this long after that date, confirm before you rely on it.