Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 438 (2020GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Albrecht, C.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/24/2020

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Gary R. Herbert

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• addresses the retention of background check information for emergency medical service personnel; and
• addresses the retention of background check information for certain individuals associated with child care centers.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

BACKGROUND CHECK INFORMATION RETENTION
AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Carl R. Albrecht
Senate Sponsor: 
Daniel Hemmert
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill addresses the retention of background check information for certain licenses.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ addresses the retention of background check information for emergency medical
service personnel; and
▸ addresses the retention of background check information for certain individuals
associated with child care centers.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
26-8a-310
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2017, Chapter 326
26-39-404
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapter 160
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
26-8a-310
 is amended to read:
26-8a-310.
Background clearance for emergency medical service personnel.
(1) The department shall determine whether to grant background clearance for an
individual seeking licensure under Section 
26-8a-302
 from whom it receives:
(a) the individual's social security number, fingerprints, and other personal
identification information specified by the department under Subsection (4); and
(b) any fees established by the department under Subsection (10).
(2) The department shall determine whether to deny or revoke background clearance
for individuals for whom it has previously granted background clearance.
(3) The department shall determine whether to grant, deny, or revoke background
clearance for an individual based on an initial and ongoing evaluation of information the
department obtains under Subsections (5) and (11), which, at a minimum, shall include an
initial criminal background check of state, regional, and national databases using the
individual's fingerprints.
(4) The department shall make rules, in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah
Administrative Rulemaking Act, that specify:
(a) the criteria the department will use under Subsection (3) to determine whether to
grant, deny, or revoke background clearance; and
(b) the other personal identification information an individual seeking licensure under
Section 
26-8a-302
 must submit under Subsection (1).
(5) To determine whether to grant, deny, or revoke background clearance, the
department may access and evaluate any of the following:
(a) Department of Public Safety arrest, conviction, and disposition records described in
Title 53, Chapter 10, Criminal Investigations and Technical Services Act, including
information in state, regional, and national records files;
(b) adjudications by a juvenile court of committing an act that if committed by an adult
would be a felony or misdemeanor, if:
(i) the applicant is under 28 years of age; or
(ii) the applicant:
(A) is over 28 years of age; and
(B) has been convicted of, has pleaded no contest to, or is currently subject to a plea in
abeyance or diversion agreement for a felony or misdemeanor;
(c) juvenile court arrest, adjudication, and disposition records, other than those under
Subsection (5)(b), as allowed under Section 
78A-6-209
;
(d) child abuse or neglect findings described in Section 
78A-6-323
;
(e) the Department of Human Services' Division of Child and Family Services
Licensing Information System described in Section 
62A-4a-1006
;
(f) the Department of Human Services' Division of Aging and Adult Services database
of reports of vulnerable adult abuse, neglect, or exploitation, described in Section 
62A-3-311.1
;
(g) Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing records of licensing and
certification under Title 58, Occupations and Professions;
(h) records in other federal criminal background databases available to the state; and
(i) any other records of arrests, warrants for arrest, convictions, pleas in abeyance,
pending diversion agreements, or dispositions.
(6) Except for the Department of Public Safety, an agency may not charge the
department for information accessed under Subsection (5).
(7) When evaluating information under Subsection (3), the department shall classify a
crime committed in another state according to the closest matching crime under Utah law,
regardless of how the crime is classified in the state where the crime was committed.
(8) The department shall adopt measures to protect the security of information it
accesses under Subsection (5), which shall include limiting access by department employees to
those responsible for acquiring, evaluating, or otherwise processing the information.
(9) The department may disclose personal identification information it receives under
Subsection (1) to the Department of Human Services to verify that the subject of the
information is not identified as a perpetrator or offender in the information sources described in
Subsections (5)(d) through (f).
(10) The department may charge fees, in accordance with Section 
63J-1-504
, to pay
for:
(a) the cost of obtaining, storing, and evaluating information needed under Subsection
(3), both initially and on an ongoing basis, to determine whether to grant, deny, or revoke
background clearance; and
(b) other department costs related to granting, denying, or revoking background
clearance.
(11) The Criminal Investigations and Technical Services Division within the
Department of Public Safety shall:
(a) retain, separate from other division records, personal information under Subsection
(1), including any fingerprints sent to it by the Department of Health; and
(b) notify the Department of Health upon receiving notice that an individual for whom
personal information has been retained is the subject of:
(i) a warrant for arrest;
(ii) an arrest;
(iii) a conviction, including a plea in abeyance; or
(iv) a pending diversion agreement.
(12) The department shall use the Direct Access Clearance System database created
under Section 
26-21-209
 to manage information about the background clearance status of each
individual for whom the department is required to make a determination under Subsection (1).
(13) Clearance granted for an individual licensed under Section 
26-8a-302
 is valid until
two years after the day on which the individual is no longer licensed in Utah as emergency
medical service personnel.
Section 2. Section 
26-39-404
 is amended to read:
26-39-404.
Disqualified individuals -- Criminal history checks -- Payment of
costs.
(1) (a) Each exempt provider, except as provided in Subsection (1)(c), and each person
requesting a residential certificate or to be licensed or to renew a license under this chapter
shall submit to the department the name and other identifying information, which shall include
fingerprints, of existing, new, and proposed:
(i) owners;
(ii) directors;
(iii) members of the governing body;
(iv) employees;
(v) providers of care;
(vi) volunteers, except parents of children enrolled in the programs; and
(vii) all adults residing in a residence where child care is provided.
(b) (i) The Utah Division of Criminal Investigation and Technical Services within the
Department of Public Safety shall process the information required under Subsection (1)(a) to
determine whether the individual has been convicted of any crime.
(ii) The Utah Division of Criminal Investigation and Technical Services shall submit
fingerprints required under Subsection (1)(a) to the FBI for a national criminal history record
check.
(iii) A person required to submit information to the department under Subsection (1)
shall pay the cost of conducting the record check described in this Subsection (1)(b).
(c) An exempt provider who provides care to a qualifying child as part of a program
administered by an educational institution that is regulated by the State Board of Education is
not subject to this Subsection (1), unless required by the Child Care and Development Block
Grant, 42 U.S.C. Secs. 9857-9858r.
(2) (a) Each person requesting a residential certificate or to be licensed or to renew a
license under this chapter shall submit to the department the name and other identifying
information of any person age 12 through 17 who resides in the residence where the child care
is provided. The identifying information required for a person age 12 through 17 does not
include fingerprints.
(b) The department shall access the juvenile court records to determine whether a
person described in Subsection (1) or (2)(a) has been adjudicated in juvenile court of
committing an act which if committed by an adult would be a felony or misdemeanor if:
(i) the person described in Subsection (1) is under the age of 28; or
(ii) the person described in Subsection (1) is:
(A) over the age of 28; and
(B) has been convicted, has pleaded no contest, or is currently subject to a plea in
abeyance or diversion agreement for a felony or misdemeanor.
(3) Except as provided in Subsections (4) and (5), a licensee under this chapter or an
exempt provider may not permit a person who has been convicted, has pleaded no contest, or is
currently subject to a plea in abeyance or diversion agreement for any felony or misdemeanor,
or if the provisions of Subsection (2)(b) apply, who has been adjudicated in juvenile court of
committing an act which if committed by an adult would be a felony or a misdemeanor, to:
(a) provide child care;
(b) provide volunteer services for a child care program or an exempt provider;
(c) reside at the premises where child care is provided; or
(d) function as an owner, director, or member of the governing body of a child care
program or an exempt provider.
(4) (a) The department may, by rule, exempt the following from the restrictions of
Subsection (3):
(i) specific misdemeanors; and
(ii) specific acts adjudicated in juvenile court, which if committed by an adult would be
misdemeanors.
(b) In accordance with criteria established by rule, the executive director may consider
and exempt individual cases not otherwise exempt under Subsection (4)(a) from the restrictions
of Subsection (3).
(5) The restrictions of Subsection (3) do not apply to the following:
(a) a conviction or plea of no contest to any nonviolent drug offense that occurred on a
date 10 years or more before the date of the criminal history check described in this section; or
(b) if the provisions of Subsection (2)(b) apply, any nonviolent drug offense
adjudicated in juvenile court on a date 10 years or more before the date of the criminal history
check described in this section. 
(6) The department may retain background check information submitted to the
department for up to one year after the day on which the covered individual is no longer
associated with a Utah child care provider.