1089
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECKS FOR TEACHER TRAINEES.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Section 846-43, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended to read as follows:
 
 3      "§846-43  Employees of the department of education, [and]
 
 
 
 6 the counties[, and respective private schools, may] shall develop
 
 7 procedures for obtaining verifiable information regarding the
 
 8 criminal history of persons who are employed [or are], seeking
 
 9 employment, or seeking to serve as teacher trainees in any public
 
10 [or private schools] school, or who are employed or seeking
 
11 employment in any county in positions which place them in close
 
12 proximity to children.  These procedures shall include but not be
 
13 limited to criminal history record checks.  For the purposes of
 
14 this section, "criminal history record check" means an
 
15 examination or search for evidence of an individual's criminal
 
16 history by means of:
 
17      (1)  A search for the individual's fingerprints in the
 
18           Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history record
 
19           files and, if found, an analysis and any other
 

 
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 1           information available pertaining thereto; and
 
 2      (2)  A criminal history record check conducted by the Hawaii
 
 3           criminal justice data center[;
 
 4 provided that the Hawaii criminal justice data center may charge
 
 5 a reasonable fee for criminal history record checks performed
 
 6 [for private schools and] for Federal Bureau of Investigation
 
 7 criminal history record checks.
 
 8      (b)  Except as otherwise specified, any person who is
 
 9 employed or seeks employment with a public [or private] school or
 
10 as a teacher trainee in any public school or who is employed or
 
11 seeks employment with any county in a position [which] that
 
12 necessitates close proximity to children [may] shall be required
 
13 to provide to the employer or prospective employer:
 
14      (1)  A sworn statement indicating whether or not the person
 
15           has ever been convicted of a crime (other than a
 
16           traffic violation involving a fine of $50 or less), and
 
17           the details thereof:
 
18      (2)  Written consent for the employer to conduct a criminal
 
19           history record check as provided in subsection (a) and
 
20           to obtain other information for verification; and
 
21      (3)  Permission to be fingerprinted for the purpose of the
 
22           Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history record
 
23           check.
 

 
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 1 Information obtained pursuant to subsection (a) and this
 
 2 subsection shall be used exclusively by the employer or
 
 3 prospective employer for the purpose of determining whether or
 
 4 not a person is suitable for working in close proximity to
 
 5 children.  All such decisions shall be subject to federal laws
 
 6 and regulations currently or hereafter in effect.
 
 7      (c)  The employer or prospective employer may refuse to
 
 8 employ, may refuse to issue a teaching or other educational
 
 9 certificate to, may revoke the teaching or other educational
 
10 certificate of, may refuse to allow or continue to allow
 
11 permission to serve under training, or may terminate the
 
12 employment of any employee or applicant if the person has been
 
13 convicted of a crime, other than a minor traffic offense
 
14 involving a fine of $50 or less, and if the employer or
 
15 prospective employer finds by reason of the nature and
 
16 circumstances of the crime that the person poses a risk to the
 
17 health, safety, or well-being of children.  Such refusal,
 
18 revocation, or termination may occur only after appropriate
 
19 investigation, notification of results and planned action, and
 
20 opportunity to meet and rebut the finding, all of which need not
 
21 be conducted in accordance with chapter 91.
 
22      (d)  This section shall not be used by the department of
 
23 education to secure criminal history record checks on persons who
 

 
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 1 have been employed continuously by the department on a salaried
 
 2 basis prior to July 1, 1990.
 
 3      (e)  This section shall not be used by a county to secure
 
 4 criminal history record checks on persons who have been employed
 
 5 continuously on a salaried basis prior to June 1, 1998.
 
 6      (f)  For the [purposes] purpose of this section, "close
 
 7 proximity to children" as applied to the counties, applies to
 
 8 programs and services for recreation or child care, or both.
 
 9      (g)  For the purpose of this section, notwithstanding any
 
10 other law to the contrary, the department of education[,] and the
 
11 counties[, and private schools] shall be exempt from section
 
12 831-3.1 and need not conduct its investigations, notifications,
 
13 or hearings in accordance with chapter 91."
 
14      SECTION 2.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
15 New statutory material is underscored.
 
16      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1999.
 
17 
 
18                              INTRODUCED BY:______________________
 

 
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