Revision: March 27, 2015, midnight
HB 346 - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
11Mar2015… 0101h
2015 SESSION
15-0539
04/10
HOUSE BILL 346
AN ACT relative to criminal history records checks for school employees and volunteers.
SPONSORS: Rep. O'Hearne, Sull 3; Rep. Gagnon, Sull 5; Rep. Cloutier, Sull 10; Rep. Converse, Sull 4
This bill makes changes to the law on school employee and volunteer criminal history records checks.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
11Mar2015… 0101h
15-0539
04/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fifteen
AN ACT relative to criminal history records checks for school employees and volunteers.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 School Employee and Volunteer Criminal History Records Checks. Amend RSA 189:13-a, II-VII to read as follows:
II. The selected applicant for employment or designated volunteer with a school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy 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] any crimes or charges pending disposition for or convictions of the applicant 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, chartered public school, or public academy. 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, chartered public school, or public academy may, in lieu of the criminal history records check, accept police clearances from every city, town, [or] county, or country where an applicant has lived during the past 5 years.
III. The school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy 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. [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, chartered public school, or public academy, and] Upon completion of the criminal history records check, and notwithstanding the charges or pending dispositions in paragraph II, the division of state police shall [report the presence or absence of any such crime] release a copy of the criminal history records check to the school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy. [Under no circumstances shall the criminal records be released to the school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy.] The school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy 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, chartered public school, or public academy 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 has been charged pending disposition for or convicted of a crime listed in paragraph V,] crime, the school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy shall review the information for a hiring decision, and the division of state police shall notify the department of education of any such charges pending disposition or convictions. The school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy shall [destroy any] only retain criminal history record information that indicates a criminal record [within 30 days of receiving such information] if the applicant is extended a final offer of employment. This information shall be confidentially maintained in the applicant’s personnel file.
IV. The school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy may require the selected applicant for employment or designated volunteer to pay the actual costs of the criminal history records check.
V. Any person who has been charged pending disposition for or convicted of 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, II or III; 645:2; 649-A:3; 649-A:3-a; 649-A:3-b; 649-B:3; or 649-B:4; or any violation or any attempted violation of RSA 650:2 where the act involves a child in material deemed obscene; 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, chartered public school, or public academy. By decision of the appropriate governing body, a school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy may deny a selected applicant a final offer of employment if such person has been convicted of any [felony] crime 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,] crime shall not be hired.
VI. This section applies to any employee, selected applicant for employment, designated volunteer, or volunteer organization which contracts with a school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy to provide services, including but not limited to cafeteria workers, school bus drivers, custodial personnel, or any other service where the contractor or employees of the contractor provide services directly to students of the district, chartered public school, or public academy. The cost for criminal history records checks for employees or selected applicants for employment with such contractors shall be borne by the contractor.
VII. The school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy shall not be required to complete a criminal history records check on volunteers, provided that the governing body of a school administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy shall adopt a policy designating certain categories of volunteers as “designated volunteers” who [may] shall be required to undergo a criminal history records check.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.