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H0672..........................................................by EDUCATION SCHOOLS - CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECKS - Amends existing law to clarify the databases that shall be used in a criminal history check for school district employees or applicants for teaching certificates; to provide that copies of certain applicant records and notifications shall be sent to the applicant only upon request of the applicant; to provide that it is the responsibility of the State Department of Education to ensure that fingerprint cards are destroyed after a check has been completed; and to provide rulemaking authority to the State Board of Education to establish a thorough system of criminal history checks. 02/22 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing 02/25 Rpt prt - to Educ
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO |||| Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2002IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 672 BY EDUCATION COMMITTEE 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECKS FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT EMPLOYEES OR APPLI- 3 CANTS FOR CERTIFICATES; AMENDING SECTION 33-130, IDAHO CODE, TO CLARIFY 4 THE DATABASES THAT SHALL BE USED IN A CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECK, TO PROVIDE 5 THAT COPIES OF CERTAIN APPLICANT RECORDS AND NOTIFICATIONS SHALL BE SENT 6 TO THE APPLICANT ONLY UPON REQUEST OF THE APPLICANT, TO PROVIDE THAT IT IS 7 THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO ENSURE THAT 8 FINGERPRINT CARDS ARE DESTROYED AFTER A CHECK HAS BEEN COMPLETED AND TO 9 PROVIDE RULEMAKING AUTHORITY TO THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO ESTABLISH 10 A THOROUGH SYSTEM OF CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECKS. 11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 12 SECTION 1. That Section 33-130, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 13 amended to read as follows: 14 33-130. CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECKS FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT EMPLOYEES OR APPLI- 15 CANTS FOR CERTIFICATES. (1) The department of education, through the coopera- 16 tion of the Idaho state police, shall establish a system to obtain a finger- 17 print-based criminal history check on certificated and noncertificated employ- 18 ees, and all applicants for certificates pursuant to chapter 12, title 33, 19 Idaho Code. The criminal history check shall include checks of thefollowing:20(1) StatewideIdaho state police's bureau of criminal identification 21bureau;databases, including the sex offender registry, and the 22(2) Ffederal bureau of investigation (FBI)criminal history check;23 databases, as appropriate. 24(3) National crime information center; and25(4) Statewide sex offender register.26 (2) The state department of education shall charge all applicants a fee 27 of forty dollars ($40.00) for undergoing a criminal history check pursuant to 28 this section. The fee shall be sufficient to cover costs charged by the fed- 29 eral bureau of investigation, the state police and the state department of 30 education. 31 (3) A record of all background checks shall be maintained at the state 32 department of education in a data bank for all employees of a school district 33 with a copy going to the applicant upon request. Also upon request of the 34 applicant, tThe department of education shall forwardto all applicants for a35criminal history check,notification that the fingerprint card has been 36 destroyed after the background check has been completed. The department of 37 educationand the Idaho state policeshall ensure that fingerprint cards have 38 been destroyed after a criminal history check has been completed. 39 (4) The state board of education shall adopt rules in accordance with the 40 provisions of chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code, to establish a thorough system 41 of criminal history checks. 42 (5) The Idaho state police and the department of education shall imple- 43 ment a joint exercise of powers agreement pursuant to sections 67-2328 through 2 1 67-2333, Idaho Code, necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE RS 12065C1 This legislation amends Section 33-130: (1) to make technical corrections in the terms used to describe the databases when criminal background checks are made of employees working in Idaho schools, (2) to make it a requirement that copies of the report of background checks and notification that fingerprint records have been destroyed are sent to employees at their request, and (3) to provide rulemaking authority to the State Board of Education to establish regulations to carry out and clarify how the criminal background check statute is to be implemented. The rule making process will allow the department of education to follow negotiated rulemaking procedures so school districts affected by the rules will be involved in creating improvements in criminal background check requirements, and to begin the process of amending Section 33-512(15) of Idaho Code, to coincide with the improvements negotiated. Fiscal Impact There will be no fiscal impact on the state budget or to the appropriation for public schools. Contact Name: Representative Janet Aikele Phone: 208-332-1000 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE H 672