HB 7111

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to guardianship; amending s. 744.3135,
3	F.S.; revising provisions relating to criminal history
4	record checks for professional and nonprofessional
5	guardians; granting rulemaking authority to the Statewide
6	Public Guardianship Office; revising terminology; deleting
7	obsolete language; revising language concerning
8	investigations of credit histories of professional
9	guardians and certain of their employees; providing an
10	effective date.
11
12	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14	Section 1.  Section 744.3135, Florida Statutes, is amended
15	to read:
16	744.3135  Credit and criminal investigation.--
17	(1)  The court may require a nonprofessional guardian and
18	shall require a professional or public guardian, and all
19	employees of a professional guardian who have a fiduciary
20	responsibility to a ward, to submit, at their own expense, to an
21	investigation of the guardian's credit history and to undergo
22	level 2 background screening as required under s. 435.04. If a
23	credit or criminal history record check is required, the court
24	must consider the results of any investigation before appointing
25	a guardian. At any time, the court may require a guardian or the
26	guardian's employees to submit to an investigation of the
27	person's credit history and complete a level 1 background
28	screening as set forth in s. 435.03. The court shall consider
29	the results of any investigation when reappointing a guardian.
30	The clerk of the court shall maintain a file on each guardian
31	appointed by the court and retain in the file documentation of
32	the result of any investigation conducted under this section. A
33	professional guardian must pay the clerk of the court a fee of
34	up to $7.50 for handling and processing professional guardian
35	files.
36	(2)  For nonprofessional guardians, the court and the
37	Statewide Public Guardianship Office shall accept the
38	satisfactory completion of a criminal history record check as by
39	any method described in this subsection. A nonprofessional
40	guardian satisfies the requirements of this section by
41	undergoing a state and national criminal history record check
42	using a fingerprint card. The clerk of the court shall obtain
43	fingerprint cards from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and
44	make them available to nonprofessional guardians. Any
45	nonprofessional guardian who is so required shall have his or
46	her fingerprints taken and forward the completed fingerprint
47	card along with the necessary fee to the Department of Law
48	Enforcement for processing. The results of the fingerprint card
49	criminal history record check shall be forwarded to the clerk of
50	the court, who shall maintain the results in the nonprofessional
51	guardian's file and make the results available to the court.
52	(3)  For professional guardians, the court and the
53	Statewide Public Guardianship Office shall accept the
54	satisfactory completion of a criminal history record check by
55	any method described in this subsection. A professional guardian
56	satisfies the requirements of this section by undergoing:
57	(a)  An electronic fingerprint criminal history record
58	check. A professional guardian may use any electronic
59	fingerprinting equipment used for criminal history record checks
60	of public employees. The Statewide Public Guardianship Office
61	shall adopt a rule detailing the acceptable methods for
62	completing an electronic fingerprint criminal history record
63	check under this section. The professional guardian shall pay
64	the actual costs incurred by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
65	and the Department of Law Enforcement for the criminal history
66	record check. The agency that operates the equipment used by the
67	guardian may charge the guardian an additional fee, not to
68	exceed $10, for the use of the equipment. The entity agency
69	completing the record check must immediately send the results of
70	the criminal history record check to the clerk of the court and
71	the Statewide Public Guardianship Office. The clerk of the court
72	shall maintain the results in the professional guardian's file
73	and shall make the results available to the court; or
74	(b)  A criminal history record check using a fingerprint
75	card. The clerk of the court shall obtain fingerprint cards from
76	the Federal Bureau of Investigation and make them available to
77	guardians. Any guardian who is so required shall have his or her
78	fingerprints taken and forward the proper fingerprint card along
79	with the necessary fee to the Department of Law Enforcement for
80	processing. The results of the fingerprint card criminal history
81	record checks shall be forwarded to the clerk of the court, who
82	shall maintain the results in the guardian's file and make the
83	results available to the court and the Statewide Public
84	Guardianship Office.
85	(4)(3)(a)  A professional guardian, and each employee of a
86	professional guardian who has a fiduciary responsibility to a
87	ward, must complete, at his or her own expense, a level 2
88	background screening as set forth in s. 435.04 before and at
89	least once every 5 years after the date the guardian is
90	registered appointed. A professional guardian, and each employee
91	of a professional guardian who has a fiduciary responsibility to
92	a ward, must complete, at his or her own expense, a level 1
93	background screening as set forth in s. 435.03 at least once
94	every 2 years after the date the guardian is registered
95	appointed. However, a professional guardian person is not
96	required to resubmit fingerprints for a criminal history record
97	check if he or she has been screened using electronic
98	fingerprinting equipment and the fingerprints are retained by
99	the Department of Law Enforcement in order to notify the clerk
100	of the court of any crime charged against the person in this
101	state or elsewhere, as appropriate.
102	(b)  Effective December 15, 2006, All fingerprints
103	electronically submitted to the Department of Law Enforcement
104	under this section shall be retained by the Department of Law
105	Enforcement in a manner provided by rule and entered in the
106	statewide automated fingerprint identification system authorized
107	by s. 943.05(2)(b). The fingerprints shall thereafter be
108	available for all purposes and uses authorized for arrest
109	fingerprint cards entered in the Criminal Justice Information
110	Program under s. 943.051.
111	(c)  Effective December 15, 2006, The Department of Law
112	Enforcement shall search all arrest fingerprint cards received
113	under s. 943.051 against the fingerprints retained in the
114	statewide automated fingerprint identification system under
115	paragraph (b). Any arrest record that is identified with the
116	fingerprints of a person described in this paragraph must be
117	reported to the clerk of court. The clerk of court must forward
118	any arrest record received for a professional guardian to the
119	Statewide Public Guardianship Office within 5 days. Each
120	professional guardian who elects to submit fingerprint
121	information electronically shall participate in this search
122	process by paying an annual fee to the Statewide Public
123	Guardianship Office of the Department of Elderly Affairs and by
124	informing the clerk of court and the Statewide Public
125	Guardianship Office of any change in the status of his or her
126	guardianship appointment. The amount of the annual fee to be
127	imposed for performing these searches and the procedures for the
128	retention of professional guardian fingerprints and the
129	dissemination of search results shall be established by rule of
130	the Department of Law Enforcement. At least once every 5 years,
131	the Statewide Public Guardianship Office must request that the
132	Department of Law Enforcement forward the fingerprints
133	maintained under this section to the Federal Bureau of
134	Investigation.
135	(5)(4)(a)  A professional guardian, and each employee of a
136	professional guardian who has a fiduciary responsibility to a
137	ward, must complete, at his or her own expense, an investigation
138	of his or her credit history before and at least once every 2
139	years after the date of the guardian's registration with the
140	Statewide Public Guardianship Office appointment.
141	(b)  The Statewide Public Guardianship Office shall adopt a
142	rule detailing the acceptable methods for completing a credit
143	investigation under this section. If appropriate, the Statewide
144	Public Guardianship Office may administer credit investigations.
145	If the office chooses to administer the credit investigation,
146	the office may adopt a rule setting a fee, not to exceed $25, to
147	reimburse the costs associated with the administration of a
148	credit investigation.
149	(6)(5)  The Statewide Public Guardianship Office may
150	inspect at any time the results of any credit or criminal
151	history record check of a public or professional guardian
152	conducted under this section. The office shall maintain copies
153	of the credit or criminal history record check results in the
154	guardian's registration file. If the results of a credit or
155	criminal investigation of a public or professional guardian have
156	not been forwarded to the Statewide Public Guardianship Office
157	by the investigating agency, the clerk of the court shall
158	forward copies of the results of the investigations to the
159	office upon receiving them.
160	(7)(6)  The requirements of this section do not apply to a
161	professional guardian, or to the employees of a professional
162	guardian, that is a trust company, a state banking corporation
163	or state savings association authorized and qualified to
164	exercise fiduciary powers in this state, or a national banking
165	association or federal savings and loan association authorized
166	and qualified to exercise fiduciary powers in this state.
167	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.

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