House Bill 0543

    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                 HB 543

        By Representative Wasserman Schultz






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to school personnel; amending

  3         s. 231.02, F.S.; providing for access to the

  4         Florida Crimes Information Telecommunications

  5         Network for background checks of school

  6         personnel; providing for the cost of background

  7         checks; providing an effective date.

  8

  9  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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11         Section 1.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section

12  231.02, Florida Statutes, 1998 Supplement, is amended, and

13  paragraph (c) is added to that subsection to read:

14         231.02  Qualifications of personnel.--

15         (2)(a)  Instructional and noninstructional personnel

16  who are hired or contracted individually or by an agency to

17  fill positions requiring direct contact with students in any

18  district school system or laboratory school shall, upon

19  employment, file a complete set of fingerprints taken by an

20  authorized law enforcement officer or an employee of the

21  school or district who is trained to take fingerprints.  These

22  fingerprints shall be submitted to the Department of Law

23  Enforcement for state processing and to the Federal Bureau of

24  Investigation for federal processing. School districts that

25  have authorized terminal access to the Florida Crimes

26  Information Telecommunications Network may use this equipment

27  for the background check of district employees or employees

28  contracted individually or by an agency. However, the

29  background check may not be in lieu of the requirement that

30  fingerprints be submitted to the Florida Department of Law

31  Enforcement. Such new employees shall be on probationary

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                 HB 543

    524-161-99






  1  status pending fingerprint processing and determination of

  2  compliance with standards of good moral character.  Employees

  3  found through fingerprint processing to have been convicted

  4  of, found guilty of, or having entered a plea of guilty or

  5  nolo contendere, regardless of adjudication, to a crime

  6  involving moral turpitude or other crime under s. 435.04 may

  7  shall not be employed in any position, except as specifically

  8  approved by the district school board in accordance with

  9  chapter 435 requiring direct contact with students.

10  Probationary employees terminated because of their criminal

11  record shall have the right to appeal such decisions.  The

12  cost of the fingerprint processing may be borne by the school

13  board, or the employee, or the contracted individual.

14         (c)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this

15  section, school districts may have access to the Florida

16  Crimes Information Communications Network for background

17  checks of school volunteers. Beginning in fiscal year

18  1999-2000, the cost of background checks will be borne as

19  provided in the annual appropriations act.

20         Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

21  law.

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24                          SENATE SUMMARY

25    Provides for terminal access to the Florida Crimes
      Information Telecommunications Network for the purpose of
26    conducting background checks on school district
      personnel. Provides for the allocation of costs of
27    background checks.

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