The chairman of the Assembly Judiciary Committee on Tuesday urged the state bar and California Supreme Court to “take a fresh look” at the viability of the bar exam in light of the historically low pass rate on the July 2018 test.

Assemblyman Mark Stone, D-Scotts Valley, said he was “dismayed and concerned” by figures released Friday that show only 40.7 percent of test-takers passed. The success rate was the lowest since 1951, and it marked the fifth year in a row that more people failed the California bar exam than passed it.

“The longer the downward trend continues, the more likely it will be that highly qualified applicants to law school are deterred from pursuing a career in the law and will opt for other career paths,” Stone said in an email. “The trend will further perpetuate the downward trajectory of bar passage rates, negatively affect diversity of the legal profession and the bench, and ultimately hurt public access to justice.”