The Florida Senate

744.3135  Credit and criminal investigation.--The court may require a nonprofessional guardian and shall require a professional or public guardian, and all employees of a professional guardian who have a fiduciary responsibility to a ward, to submit, at their own expense, to an investigation of the guardian's credit history and to undergo level 2 background screening as required under s. 435.04 The clerk of the court shall obtain fingerprint cards from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and make them available to guardians. Any guardian who is so required shall have his or her fingerprints taken and forward the proper fingerprint card along with the necessary fee to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for processing. The professional guardian shall pay to the clerk of the court a fee of $5 for handling and processing professional guardian files. The results of the fingerprint checks shall be forwarded to the clerk of court who shall maintain the results in a guardian file and shall make the results available to the court. If credit or criminal investigations are required, the court must consider the results of the investigations in appointing a guardian. Guardians and all employees of a professional guardian who have a fiduciary responsibility to a ward, so appointed, must resubmit, at their own expense, to an investigation of credit history, and undergo level 1 background screening as required under s. 435.03, every 2 years after the date of their appointment. The court must consider the results of these investigations in reappointing a guardian. This section shall not apply to a professional guardian, or to the employees of a professional guardian, that is a trust company, a state banking corporation or state savings association authorized and qualified to exercise fiduciary powers in this state, or a national banking association or federal savings and loan association authorized and qualified to exercise fiduciary powers in this state.

History.--s. 30, ch. 89-96; s. 1076, ch. 97-102; s. 2, ch. 97-161; s. 10, ch. 99-277; s. 5, ch. 2002-195.