Purpose

Allows the Arizona Schools for the Deaf and Blind (ASDB) to conduct fingerprinting background checks independent of the Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Fingerprinting Division.

Background

Current law mandates that state schools require their personnel to participate in the fingerprinting clearance card process administered by the Division of Fingerprinting within the DPS (A.R.S. 41- 1758). ASDB was inadvertently listed among the state schools required to fingerprint personnel when the legislation was adopted in 1998.

In 2000, the Access Integrity Unit (AIU) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reviewed the request of the ASDB to continue submitting their applicant fingerprint cards under the authority of their own governing statute and granted them a grace period ending October 30, 2001 to correct the language of A.R.S. 41-1758.

Removing the ASDB from the fingerprinting clearance card process of the DPS allows the school to evaluate results of state and federal background checks first hand. This bill allows the school to make decisions regarding employment eligibility, according to its own criteria and independent of the state.

The fiscal impact of S.B. 1270 is unknown at this time.

Provisions

1. Replaces the issuance of fingerprint clearance cards with the requirement that school personnel be fingerprinted as a condition of employment.

2. Requires school personnel to submit fingerprints to the superintendent within 20 days of employment.

3. Requires school personnel to obtain fingerprints according to the guidelines of the DPS.

4. Requires school personnel to certify on fingerprinting forms that they have never admitted in open court or submitted to a plea agreement regarding criminal offenses.

5. Removes the Superintendent of Public Instruction’s requirement to inform DPS if the Superintendent of Public Instruction receives credible evidence that the employee has been arrested or charged with a criminal offense or that the employee provided false information on the fingerprinting form.

6. Makes a change to the definition of “person” in statutes relating to the Department of Public Safety’s fingerprinting division.

7. Makes conforming and technical changes.

8. Provides for a general effective date.

Prepared by Senate Staff

January 30, 2001

Assigned to ED FOR COMMITTEE

Purpose