The Florida Senate

¹497.142  Licensing; fingerprinting and criminal background checks.--

(1)  In any instance that this chapter requires submission of fingerprints in connection with an application for license, the provisions of this section shall apply.

(2)  The fingerprints must be taken by a law enforcement agency or other agency or entity approved by the department and in such a way as to allow their use to obtain a criminal history check through the Department of Law Enforcement.

(3)  The department shall submit the fingerprints to or cause them to be submitted to the Department of Law Enforcement for the purpose of ascertaining whether the person fingerprinted has a criminal history in any state or before the Federal Government and, if so, the nature of the criminal history.

(4)  The Department of Law Enforcement may accept fingerprints of any applicant under this chapter, any principal of any such applicant, and any other person who is examined or investigated or who is subject to examination or investigation under the provisions of this chapter.

(5)  The Department of Law Enforcement may, to the extent provided for by federal law, exchange state, multistate, and federal criminal history records with the department and the board for the purpose of the issuance, denial, suspension, or revocation of any license or other application under this chapter.

(6)  The Department of Law Enforcement may accept fingerprints of any other person required by statute or rule to submit fingerprints to the department or board or any applicant or licensee regulated by the department or board who is required to demonstrate that she or he has not been convicted of or pled guilty or nolo contendere to a felony or a misdemeanor.

(7)  The Department of Law Enforcement shall, upon receipt of fingerprints from the department, submit the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to check federal criminal history records.

(8)  Statewide criminal records obtained through the Department of Law Enforcement, federal criminal records obtained through the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and local criminal records obtained through local law enforcement agencies shall be used by the department and board for the purpose of issuance, denial, suspension, or revocation of certificates of authority, certifications, or licenses issued to operate in this state.

(9)  For the purposes of criminal background checks, applicants and principals of applicants for any approval or license under this chapter may be required to disclose whether they have ever had their name legally changed and any prior name or names they have used.

(10)  If any applicant under this chapter has been, within the 10 years preceding the application under this chapter, convicted or found guilty of, or entered a plea of nolo contendere to, regardless of adjudication, any crime in any jurisdiction, the application shall not be deemed complete until such time as the applicant provides such certified true copies of the court records evidencing the conviction, finding, or plea, as the licensing authority may by rule require.

History.--s. 12, ch. 2004-301.

¹Note.--Effective October 1, 2005.