HB 1619

HB 1619-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE

AN ACT relative to school employee and volunteer background investigations.

SPONSORS: Rep. Ward, Graf 1

This bill modifies the procedure for conducting a criminal background investigation on selected applicants for employment and designated volunteers with a school district, school administrative unit, or charter school. The bill also prohibits a school district, school administrative unit, or charter school from hiring, in an employment or volunteer capacity, any person who has been convicted of a felony controlled drug offense.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

AN ACT relative to school employee and volunteer background investigations.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Education; School Boards, Transportation and Instruction of Pupils; School Employee and Volunteer Background Investigation; Criminal History Records Information. RSA 189:13-a, II and III are repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

II. The selected applicant for employment or designated volunteer with a school administrative unit, school district, or charter school shall submit to the employer a notarized criminal history records release form, as provided by the division of state police, which authorizes the release of information regarding the presence or absence of any record of convictions of the applicant of felonies or of the crimes listed in paragraph V. The applicant shall submit with the release form a complete set of fingerprints taken by a qualified law enforcement agency or an authorized employee of the school administrative unit, school district, or charter school. In the event that the first set of fingerprints is invalid due to insufficient pattern and a second set of fingerprints is necessary in order to complete the criminal history records check, the conditional offer of employment shall remain in effect. If, after 2 attempts, a set of fingerprints is invalid due to insufficient pattern, the school administrative unit, school district, or charter school may, in lieu of the criminal history records check, accept police clearances from every city, town, or county where an applicant has lived during the past 5 years.

III. The school administrative unit, school district, or charter school shall submit the criminal history records release form to the New Hampshire state police which shall conduct a criminal history records check through its records and through the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Upon completion of the background investigation, the state police shall examine the list of crimes constituting grounds for non-approval of employment, or non-acceptance of volunteer services in that school administrative unit, school district, or charter school, and shall report the presence or absence of any such crime to the school administrative unit, school district, or charter school. Under no circumstances shall the criminal records be released to the school administrative unit, school district, or charter school. The state police shall simultaneously send the applicant a copy of the information sent to the hiring school administrative unit, school district, or charter school. The school administrative unit, school district, or charter school shall maintain the confidentiality of all criminal history records information received pursuant to this paragraph. If the criminal history records information indicates no criminal record, the school administrative unit, school district, or charter school shall destroy the information received immediately following its review of the information. If the criminal history records information indicates that the applicant has been convicted of a felony or of a crime listed in paragraph V, the school administrative unit, school district, or charter school shall review the information for a hiring decision, and the division of state police shall notify the department of education of any such convictions. The school administrative unit, school district, or charter school shall destroy any criminal history record information that indicates a criminal record within 30 days of receiving such information.

2 Education; School Boards, Transportation and Instruction of Pupils; School Employee and Volunteer Background Investigation; Crimes Changed. Amend RSA 189:13-a, V to read as follows:

V. Any person who has been convicted of [~~murder, child pornography, aggravated felonious sexual assault, felonious sexual assault, or kidnapping~~] any violation or attempted violation of RSA 630:1, 630:1-a, 630:1-b, 630:2, 632-A:2, 632-A:3, 632-A:4 633:1, 639:2, 639:3, 645:1, I(b), 645:2, 649-A:3, 649-B:3, 649-B:4, any violation or any attempted violation of RSA 650:2 where the act involves a child in material deemed obscene, or convicted, of any felony offense under RSA 318-B:26 which involves possessing, manufacturing, selling, prescribing, administering, dispensing, or possessing with intent to sell, dispense, or compound any controlled drug or its analog, in this state, or under any statute prohibiting the same conduct in another state, territory, or possession of the United States, shall not be hired by a school administrative unit, school district, or charter school. By decision of the appropriate governing body, a school administrative unit, school district, or charter school may deny a selected applicant a final offer of employment if such person has been convicted of any felony in addition to those listed above. The governing body may adopt a policy stating that any person who has been convicted of any felony, or any of a list of felonies, shall not be hired.

3 New Paragraph; School Employee and Volunteer Background Investigation; Statute of Limitation Inserted. Amend RSA 189:13-a by inserting after paragraph V the following new paragraph:

V-a. Notwithstanding any other provision of the law to the contrary, upon approval of the appropriate governing body, a school administrative unit, school district, or charter school may hire an applicant or designated volunteer who has been convicted of a felony under RSA 318-B:26, or a reasonably equivalent offense in another state or territory of the United States, which involves possessing, manufacturing, selling, prescribing, administering, dispensing, or possessing with intent to sell, dispense, or compound any controlled drug or its analog, provided that the conviction date preceded the date of hire by at least 10 years.

AN ACT relative to school employee and volunteer background investigations.

The Department of Safety indicates this bill will increase state restricted revenue and expenditures by an indeterminable amount beginning in FY 2001 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on county and local revenue or expenditures.

The Department indicates the increase in state restricted revenue will result from charges for the records checks and expenditures will increase due to the need for additional staff to handle the records checks. The actual amount of school employees who will require the records checks is unknown.