|
|||
| 1 | A bill to be entitled | ||
| 2 | An act relating to school employees; requiring the | ||
| 3 | Department of Law Enforcement to annually check its | ||
| 4 | current criminal database to determine whether information | ||
| 5 | about certain school employees appears thereon; providing | ||
| 6 | procedures; providing responsibilities of the Department | ||
| 7 | of Education; prohibiting fees; providing for notification | ||
| 8 | of school districts; allocating responsibility for | ||
| 9 | investigating information obtained through the background | ||
| 10 | checks; providing for future repeal unless reviewed and | ||
| 11 | reenacted by the Legislature; providing an effective date. | ||
| 12 | |||
| 13 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: | ||
| 14 | |||
| 15 | Section 1. Annual background check of current school | ||
| 16 | employees; procedures; waiver of costs; local responsibility for | ||
| 17 | investigating.-- | ||
| 18 | (1) The Department of Law Enforcement shall annually check | ||
| 19 | its current criminal database for the name, date of birth, and | ||
| 20 | social security number of all current school employees in this | ||
| 21 | state other than the recently hired employees who have been the | ||
| 22 | subject of individual background checks performed under section | ||
| 23 | 1012.56, Florida Statutes, during the preceding 12 months. The | ||
| 24 | Department of Education shall provide to the Department of Law | ||
| 25 | Enforcement a list of such current school employees. The | ||
| 26 | background check required under this section must consist of one | ||
| 27 | massive database query conducted once a year for all current | ||
| 28 | employees, not a check of each name, one name at a time, nor an | ||
| 29 | annual fingerprint check. | ||
| 30 | (2) The Department of Law Enforcement may not charge a fee | ||
| 31 | for a background check performed under subsection (1). | ||
| 32 | (3) The Department of Law Enforcement must promptly inform | ||
| 33 | the Department of Education if a current school employee's name | ||
| 34 | is found in the criminal database. The Department of Education | ||
| 35 | shall convey that information to the school district that | ||
| 36 | employs the individual whose name appears in the database, so | ||
| 37 | that the school district may take appropriate action. Neither | ||
| 38 | the Department of Law Enforcement nor the Department of | ||
| 39 | Education has the responsibility to investigate any matches that | ||
| 40 | are found under subsection (1). | ||
| 41 | (4) This section is repealed effective July 1, 2008, | ||
| 42 | unless reviewed and reenacted by the Legislature before that | ||
| 43 | date. | ||
| 44 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003. | ||