Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 121 Second Substitute (2024GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Lee, T.

Final action

House/ enrolled bill to Printing 3/14/2024

Outcome

House/ enrolled bill to Printing

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• defines terms; and
• prohibits a Local Education Agency from collecting background check fees from licensed employees and non-licensed substitute teachers.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

EDUCATOR BACKGROUND CHECK AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Trevor Lee
Senate Sponsor: 
____________
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill prohibits a Local Education Agency from collecting background check fees
from licensed employees and non-licensed substitute teachers.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ defines terms; and
▸ prohibits a Local Education Agency from collecting background check fees from
licensed employees and non-licensed substitute teachers.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
53-5-702
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2023, Chapter 387
53E-6-901
, as renumbered and amended by Laws of Utah 2018, Chapter 1
53G-11-401
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapter 293
53G-11-402
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2023, Chapter 527
53G-11-403
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapter 293
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
53-5-702
 is amended to read:
53-5-702.
Definitions.
In addition to the definitions in Section 
76-10-501
, as used in this part:
(1) "Active duty service member" means a person on active military duty with the
United States military and includes full time military active duty, military reserve active duty,
and national guard military active duty service members stationed in Utah.
(2) "Active duty service member spouse" means a person recognized by the military as
the spouse of an active duty service member and who resides with the active duty service
member in Utah.
(3) "Board" means the Concealed Firearm Review Board created in Section 
53-5-703
.
(4) "Bureau" means the Bureau of Criminal Identification created in Section 
53-10-201
within the Department of Public Safety.
(5) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the Department of Public Safety.
(6) "Conviction" means criminal conduct where the filing of a criminal charge has
resulted in:
(a) a finding of guilt based on evidence presented to a judge or jury;
(b) a guilty plea;
(c) a plea of nolo contendere;
(d) a plea of guilty or nolo contendere which is held in abeyance pending the successful
completion of probation;
(e) a pending diversion agreement; or
(f) a conviction which has been reduced [
pursuant to
] 
in accordance with
 Section
76-3-402
.
(7) 
(a)
 "School employee" means an employee of a public school district, charter
school, or private school whose duties, responsibilities, or assignments require the employee to
be physically present on a school's campus at least half of the days on which school is held
during a school year.
(b) "School employee" also means a substitute teacher, as defined in Section
53E-6-901
.
(8) "School year" means the period of time designated by a local school board, charter
school governing board, or private school as the school year for high school, middle school, or
elementary school students.
Section 2. Section 
53E-6-901
 is amended to read:
53E-6-901.
Substitute teachers.
(1) 
As used in this section, "substitute teacher" means a licensed or non-licensed
individual who is employed by a school district to fill in for a regular classroom teacher during
the teacher's temporary absence from the classroom.
(2)
 [
A substitute teacher need not hold a license to teach, but
] 
When hiring substitute
teachers,
 school districts [
are encouraged to hire
] 
shall prioritize
 licensed [
personnel
] 
educators
as substitutes when available.
[
(2) A person must
] 
(3) An individual shall
 submit to a background check [
under
] 
in
accordance with
 Section 
53G-11-402
 prior to employment as a substitute teacher.
[
(3)
] 
(4)
 A teacher's position in the classroom may not be filled by [
an unlicensed
] 
a
non-licensed
 substitute teacher for more than a total of 20 days during any school year unless 
a
licensed [
personnel are
] 
educator is
 not available.
[
(4) A person
] 
(5) An individual
 who is ineligible to hold a license [
for any reason
other than professional preparation
] 
for reasons described in Title 53E, Chapter 6, Part 6,
License Denial and Discipline,
 may not serve as a substitute teacher.
Section 3. Section 
53G-11-401
 is amended to read:
53G-11-401.
Definitions.
As used in this part:
(1) "Authorized entity" means an LEA, qualifying private school, or the state board that
is authorized to request a background check and ongoing monitoring under this part.
(2) "Bureau" means the Bureau of Criminal Identification within the Department of
Public Safety created in Section 
53-10-201
.
(3) "Contract employee" means an employee of a staffing service or other entity who
works at a public or private school under a contract.
(4) "FBI" means the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(5) (a) "License applicant" means an applicant for a license issued by the state board
under Title 53E, Chapter 6, Education Professional Licensure.
(b) "License applicant" includes an applicant for reinstatement of an expired, lapsed,
suspended, or revoked license.
(6) "Non-licensed employee" means an employee of an LEA or qualifying private
school that does not hold a current Utah educator license issued by the state board under Title
53E, Chapter 6, Education Professional Licensure.
(7) "Personal identifying information" means:
(a) current name, former names, nicknames, and aliases;
(b) date of birth;
(c) address;
(d) telephone number;
(e) driver license number or other government-issued identification number;
(f) social security number; and
(g) fingerprints.
(8) 
"Substitute teacher" means the same as that term is defined in Subsection
53E-6-901
.
(9)
 "Qualifying private school" means a private school that:
(a) enrolls students under Title 53F, Chapter 4, Part 3, Carson Smith Scholarship
Program; and
(b) is authorized to conduct fingerprint-based background checks of national crime
information databases under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, Pub. L.
No. 109-248.
[
(9)
] 
(10)
 "Rap back system" means a system that enables authorized entities to receive
ongoing status notifications of any criminal history reported on individuals whose fingerprints
are registered in the system.
[
(10)
] 
(11)
 "WIN Database" means the Western Identification Network Database that
consists of eight western states sharing one electronic fingerprint database.
Section 4. Section 
53G-11-402
 is amended to read:
53G-11-402.
Background checks for non-licensed employees, contract employees,
volunteers, and charter school governing board members.
(1) An LEA or qualifying private school shall:
(a) require the following individuals who are 18 years old or older to submit to a
nationwide criminal background check and ongoing monitoring as a condition of employment
or appointment:
(i) a non-licensed employee;
(ii) a contract employee;
(iii) except for an officer or employee of a cooperating employer under an internship
safety agreement under Section 
53G-7-904
, a volunteer who will be given significant
unsupervised access to a student in connection with the volunteer's assignment; and
(iv) a charter school governing board member;
(b) collect the following from an individual required to submit to a background check
under Subsection (1)(a):
(i) personal identifying information;
(ii) subject to Subsection (2), a fee described in Subsection 
53-10-108
(15); and
(iii) consent, on a form specified by the LEA or qualifying private school, for:
(A) an initial fingerprint-based background check by the FBI and the bureau upon
submission of the application; and
(B) retention of personal identifying information for ongoing monitoring through
registration with the systems described in Section 
53G-11-404
;
(c) submit the individual's personal identifying information to the bureau for:
(i) an initial fingerprint-based background check by the FBI and the bureau; and
(ii) ongoing monitoring through registration with the systems described in Section
53G-11-404
 if the results of the initial background check do not contain disqualifying criminal
history information as determined by the LEA or qualifying private school in accordance with
Section 
53G-11-405
; and
(d) identify the appropriate privacy risk mitigation strategy to be used to ensure the
LEA or qualifying private school only receives notifications for individuals with whom the
LEA or qualifying private school maintains an authorizing relationship.
(2) 
(a)
 An LEA or qualifying private school may not require an individual to pay the
fee described in Subsection (1)(b)(ii) unless the individual:
[
(a)
] 
(i)
 has passed an initial review; and
[
(b)
] 
(ii)
 is one of a pool of no more than five candidates for the position.
(b) An LEA may not require a non-licensed substitute teacher to pay the fee described
in Subsection (1)(b)(ii).
(3) An LEA or qualifying private school that receives criminal history information
about a licensed educator under Subsection 
53G-11-403
(5) shall assess the employment status
of the licensed educator as provided in Section 
53G-11-405
.
(4) An LEA or qualifying private school may establish a policy to exempt an individual
described in Subsections (1)(a)(i) through (iv) from ongoing monitoring under Subsection (1) if
the individual is being temporarily employed or appointed.
Section 5. Section 
53G-11-403
 is amended to read:
53G-11-403.
Background checks for licensed educators.
The state board shall:
(1) require a license applicant to submit to a nationwide criminal background check
and ongoing monitoring as a condition for licensing;
(2) collect the following from an applicant:
(a) personal identifying information; 
and
[
(b) a fee described in Subsection 
53-10-108
(15); and
]
[
(c)
] 
(b)
 consent, on a form specified by the state board, for:
(i) an initial fingerprint-based background check by the FBI and bureau upon
submission of the application;
(ii) retention of personal identifying information for ongoing monitoring through
registration with the systems described in Section 
53G-11-404
; and
(iii) disclosure of any criminal history information to the individual's employing LEA
or qualifying private school;
(3) submit an applicant's personal identifying information to the bureau for:
(a) an initial fingerprint-based background check by the FBI and bureau; and
(b) ongoing monitoring through registration with the systems described in Section
53G-11-404
 if the results of the initial background check do not contain disqualifying criminal
history information as determined by the state board in accordance with Section 
53G-11-405
;
(4) identify the appropriate privacy risk mitigation strategy that will be used to ensure
that the state board only receives notifications for individuals with whom the state board
maintains an authorizing relationship;
(5) notify the employing LEA or qualifying private school upon receipt of any criminal
history information reported on a licensed educator employed by the LEA or qualifying private
school; and
(6) (a) collect the information described in Subsection (2) from individuals who were
licensed prior to July 1, 2015, by the individual's next license renewal date; and
(b) submit the information to the bureau for ongoing monitoring through registration
with the systems described in Section 
53G-11-404
.
Section 6. 
Effective date.
This bill takes effect on May 1, 2024.