Senate Bill sb2040c1
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 2040
By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senator Storms
590-2351-07
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to guardianship; amending s.
3 744.3135, F.S.; revising provisions relating to
4 criminal history record checks for professional
5 and nonprofessional guardians; requiring the
6 Statewide Public Guardianship Office to adopt
7 rules; revising terminology; deleting obsolete
8 language; revising language concerning
9 investigations of credit histories of
10 professional guardians and certain of their
11 employees; providing an effective date.
12
13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15 Section 1. Section 744.3135, Florida Statutes, is
16 amended to read:
17 744.3135 Credit and criminal investigation.--
18 (1) The court may require a nonprofessional guardian
19 and shall require a professional or public guardian, and all
20 employees of a professional guardian who have a fiduciary
21 responsibility to a ward, to submit, at their own expense, to
22 an investigation of the guardian's credit history and to
23 undergo level 2 background screening as required under s.
24 435.04. If a credit or criminal history record check is
25 required, the court must consider the results of any
26 investigation before appointing a guardian. At any time, the
27 court may require a guardian or the guardian's employees to
28 submit to an investigation of the person's credit history and
29 complete a level 1 background screening as set forth in s.
30 435.03. The court shall consider the results of any
31 investigation when reappointing a guardian. The clerk of the
1
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 2040
590-2351-07
1 court shall maintain a file on each guardian appointed by the
2 court and retain in the file documentation of the result of
3 any investigation conducted under this section. A professional
4 guardian must pay the clerk of the court a fee of up to $7.50
5 for handling and processing professional guardian files.
6 (2) For nonprofessional guardians, the court and the
7 Statewide Public Guardianship Office shall accept the
8 satisfactory completion of a criminal history record check as
9 by any method described in this subsection. A nonprofessional
10 guardian satisfies the requirements of this section by
11 undergoing a state and national criminal history record check
12 using a fingerprint card. The clerk of the court shall obtain
13 fingerprint cards from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and
14 make them available to nonprofessional guardians. Any
15 nonprofessional guardian who is so required shall have his or
16 her fingerprints taken and forward the completed fingerprint
17 card along with the necessary fee to the Department of Law
18 Enforcement for processing. The results of the fingerprint
19 card criminal history record check shall be forwarded to the
20 clerk of the court, who shall maintain the results in the
21 nonprofessional guardian's file and make the results available
22 to the court.
23 (3) For professional guardians, the court and the
24 Statewide Public Guardianship Office shall accept the
25 satisfactory completion of a criminal history record check by
26 any method described in this subsection. A professional
27 guardian satisfies the requirements of this section by
28 undergoing:
29 (a) An electronic fingerprint criminal history record
30 check. A professional guardian may use any electronic
31 fingerprinting equipment used for criminal history record
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 2040
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1 checks of public employees. The Statewide Public Guardianship
2 Office shall adopt a rule detailing the acceptable methods for
3 completing an electronic fingerprint criminal history record
4 check under this section. The professional guardian shall pay
5 the actual costs incurred by the Federal Bureau of
6 Investigation and the Department of Law Enforcement for the
7 criminal history record check. The agency that operates the
8 equipment used by the guardian may charge the guardian an
9 additional fee, not to exceed $10, for the use of the
10 equipment. The entity agency completing the record check must
11 immediately send the results of the criminal history record
12 check to the clerk of the court and the Statewide Public
13 Guardianship Office. The clerk of the court shall maintain the
14 results in the professional guardian's file and shall make the
15 results available to the court; or
16 (b) A criminal history record check using a
17 fingerprint card. The clerk of the court shall obtain
18 fingerprint cards from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and
19 make them available to guardians. Any guardian who is so
20 required shall have his or her fingerprints taken and forward
21 the proper fingerprint card along with the necessary fee to
22 the Department of Law Enforcement for processing. The results
23 of the fingerprint card criminal history record checks shall
24 be forwarded to the clerk of the court, who shall maintain the
25 results in the guardian's file and make the results available
26 to the court and the Statewide Public Guardianship Office.
27 (4)(3)(a) A professional guardian, and each employee
28 of a professional guardian who has a fiduciary responsibility
29 to a ward, must complete, at his or her own expense, a level 2
30 background screening as set forth in s. 435.04 before and at
31 least once every 5 years after the date the guardian is
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 2040
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1 registered appointed. A professional guardian, and each
2 employee of a professional guardian who has a fiduciary
3 responsibility to a ward, must complete, at his or her own
4 expense, a level 1 background screening as set forth in s.
5 435.03 at least once every 2 years after the date the guardian
6 is registered appointed. However, a professional guardian
7 person is not required to resubmit fingerprints for a criminal
8 history record check if he or she has been screened using
9 electronic fingerprinting equipment and the fingerprints are
10 retained by the Department of Law Enforcement in order to
11 notify the clerk of the court of any crime charged against the
12 person in this state or elsewhere, as appropriate.
13 (b) Effective December 15, 2006, All fingerprints
14 electronically submitted to the Department of Law Enforcement
15 under this section shall be retained by the Department of Law
16 Enforcement in a manner provided by rule and entered in the
17 statewide automated fingerprint identification system
18 authorized by s. 943.05(2)(b). The fingerprints shall
19 thereafter be available for all purposes and uses authorized
20 for arrest fingerprint cards entered in the Criminal Justice
21 Information Program under s. 943.051.
22 (c) Effective December 15, 2006, The Department of Law
23 Enforcement shall search all arrest fingerprint cards received
24 under s. 943.051 against the fingerprints retained in the
25 statewide automated fingerprint identification system under
26 paragraph (b). Any arrest record that is identified with the
27 fingerprints of a person described in this paragraph must be
28 reported to the clerk of court. The clerk of court must
29 forward any arrest record received for a professional guardian
30 to the Statewide Public Guardianship Office within 5 days.
31 Each professional guardian who elects to submit fingerprint
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1 information electronically shall participate in this search
2 process by paying an annual fee to the Statewide Public
3 Guardianship Office of the Department of Elderly Affairs and
4 by informing the clerk of court and the Statewide Public
5 Guardianship Office of any change in the status of his or her
6 guardianship appointment. The amount of the annual fee to be
7 imposed for performing these searches and the procedures for
8 the retention of professional guardian fingerprints and the
9 dissemination of search results shall be established by rule
10 of the Department of Law Enforcement. At least once every 5
11 years, the Statewide Public Guardianship Office must request
12 that the Department of Law Enforcement forward the
13 fingerprints maintained under this section to the Federal
14 Bureau of Investigation.
15 (5)(4)(a) A professional guardian, and each employee
16 of a professional guardian who has a fiduciary responsibility
17 to a ward, must complete, at his or her own expense, an
18 investigation of his or her credit history before and at least
19 once every 2 years after the date of the guardian's
20 registration with the Statewide Public Guardianship Office
21 appointment.
22 (b) The Statewide Public Guardianship Office shall
23 adopt a rule detailing the acceptable methods for completing a
24 credit investigation under this section. If appropriate, the
25 Statewide Public Guardianship Office may administer credit
26 investigations. If the office chooses to administer the credit
27 investigation, the office may adopt a rule setting a fee, not
28 to exceed $25, to reimburse the costs associated with the
29 administration of a credit investigation.
30 (6)(5) The Statewide Public Guardianship Office may
31 inspect at any time the results of any credit or criminal
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 2040
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1 history record check of a public or professional guardian
2 conducted under this section. The office shall maintain copies
3 of the credit or criminal history record check results in the
4 guardian's registration file. If the results of a credit or
5 criminal investigation of a public or professional guardian
6 have not been forwarded to the Statewide Public Guardianship
7 Office by the investigating agency, the clerk of the court
8 shall forward copies of the results of the investigations to
9 the office upon receiving them.
10 (7)(6) The requirements of this section do not apply
11 to a professional guardian, or to the employees of a
12 professional guardian, that is a trust company, a state
13 banking corporation or state savings association authorized
14 and qualified to exercise fiduciary powers in this state, or a
15 national banking association or federal savings and loan
16 association authorized and qualified to exercise fiduciary
17 powers in this state.
18 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.
19
20 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
21 SB 2040
22
23 Clarifies that the criminal history record check for
nonprofessional guardians is a state and national check.
24
Adds a requirement for the Statewide Public Guardianship
25 Office to adopt a rule detailing the acceptable methods for
completing an electronic fingerprint criminal history record
26 check for professional guardians.
27 Deletes a provision that permitted the agency operating the
electronic fingerprinting equipment to charge the professional
28 guardian an additional fee up to $10.
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