CHAPTER 147
HB 204-FN-LOCAL – FINAL VERSION
13Mar2013… 0649h
05/02/13 1394s
2013 SESSION
10/03
HOUSE BILL 204-FN-LOCAL
AN ACT relative to the removal of social security and other numbers from registry of deeds documents available on the Internet, and relative to background checks for county employees.
SPONSORS: Rep. Watrous, Merr 16; Rep. Kurk, Hills 2
COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government
This bill requires the registers of deeds to remove social security numbers, armed forces service numbers, credit card numbers, and deposit account numbers discovered by registers in the ordinary cause of business from documents made available on the Internet. The bill also authorizes background checks on candidates for employment with the county.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
13Mar2013… 0649h
05/02/13 1394s
13-0599
10/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Thirteen
AN ACT relative to the removal of social security and other numbers from registry of deeds documents available on the Internet, and relative to background checks for county employees.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
147:1 Registers of Deeds; Social Security Numbers and Financial Information. Amend RSA 478:4-b to read as follows:
478:4-b Records; Social Security Numbers and Financial Information.
I. The preparer of a document shall not include an individual’s social security number, armed forces service number, credit card number, or deposit account numbers in a document that is prepared and presented for recording in the office of the register of deeds. This paragraph shall not apply to state or federal tax liens[,] and certified copies of death certificates[, and other documents required by law to contain such information that are] filed or recorded in the office of the register of deeds. For the purpose of this section, “preparer” shall mean the person who drafts the documents that are recorded with the register of deeds. Preparer shall not include any person who hires, requires, refers, pays, or requests that the documents be drafted or recorded.
II. If a deed or instrument that includes an individual’s social security number, armed forces service number, credit card number, or deposit account numbers, was filed with the register of deeds and is available on the Internet, [the individual may request that the register of deeds] and if the information is discovered by the register of deeds in the ordinary course of business after the effective date of this section, the register of deeds shall redact such information from the Internet record. The register of deeds shall also establish a procedure by which individuals may request that such information be redacted from its files which are available on the Internet. Upon request, the information shall be redacted.
III. The register of deeds shall comply with an individual’s request to redact his or her social security number, armed forces service number, credit card number, or deposit account numbers within 5 business days of the receipt of the request, or sooner, if ordered to do so by a court, for good cause shown.
147:2 New Section; County Commissioners; Employee Candidate Background Checks. Amend RSA?28 by inserting after section 10-b the following new section:
28:10-c Employee Candidate Background Checks.
I. The county commissioners may require a background investigation and a criminal history records check on any candidate for employment, prior to a final offer of employment. A county may request only a state records check or both a federal and state records check, to be conducted through the division of state police. The county may extend a conditional offer of employment to a candidate, with a final offer of employment subject to a successfully completed criminal history records check.
II. A candidate for employment in a position that the county commissioners determine requires a background investigation and a criminal history records check shall submit to the county a notarized criminal history records release form, as provided by the division of state police, which authorizes the release of the person’s criminal records, if any. The candidate shall submit with the release form a complete set of fingerprints taken by a law enforcement agency as directed by the county commissioners. 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 county may, in lieu of the criminal history records check, accept police clearances from every city, town, or county where a candidate has lived during the past 5 years.
III. To obtain a state records check only, the county shall submit a state criminal history records release form to the division of state police. To obtain both the federal and the state records check, the county shall submit the criminal history records release form and applicant fingerprint card to the division of 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 division of state police shall report any criminal conviction information to the county commissioners. The county may submit fingerprint information electronically, in accordance with procedures established by the division of state police. The county shall maintain the confidentiality and security of all criminal history records information received pursuant to this paragraph.
IV. The county commissioners may require the candidate to pay the actual costs of the background investigation and the criminal history records check.
V. In this section, “candidate for employment” shall include candidates for volunteer positions in the county.
147:3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
Approved: June 28, 2013
Effective Date: August 27, 2013