REPORT TITLE:
Criminal History Checks


DESCRIPTION:
Requires criminal history record checks for all employees of
adult residential homes and nursing homes, and employees of home
care agencies who have access to the personal belongings of
clients.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           2063
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD CHECKS.



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

 1      SECTION 1.  Chapter 846, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
 2 by adding a new section to part III to be appropriately
 
 3 designated and to read as follows:
 
 4      "§846-     Departments of human services and health;
 
 5 criminal history record checks.  (a)  For the purposes of this
 
 6 section, "criminal history record check" means an examination or
 
 7 search for evidence of an individual's criminal history by means
 
 8 of:
 
 9      (1)  A search for the individual's fingerprints in the
 
10           national criminal history record files and, if found,
 
11           an analysis of any other information available
 
12           pertaining thereto; and
 
13      (2)  A criminal history record check conducted by the
 
14           Hawaii criminal justice data center; provided that the
 
15           Hawaii criminal justice data center may charge a
 
16           reasonable fee for criminal history record checks
 
17           performed.
 
18      (b)  The department of health shall request a criminal
 
19 history record check on any applicant to operate an adult
 

 
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 1 residential care facility or nursing home, all current and
 
 2 prospective employees of the applicant, and all new employees of
 
 3 the applicant after registration or licensure, who provide care
 
 4 to residents or who have access to the personal belongings of
 
 5 residents.
 
 6      (c)  The department of human services shall request a
 
 7 criminal history record check on any applicant to operate a home
 
 8 care agency under chapter 346D, all current and prospective
 
 9 employees of the applicant, and all new employees of the
 
10 applicant after licensure, who provide care to clients in their
 
11 own homes and who have access to their clients' personal
 
12 belongings.
 
13      (d)  The criminal history record check, at a minimum, shall
 
14 require the applicant, current employee, or prospective employee
 
15 to disclose whether:
 
16      (1)  The individual subject to the criminal history record
 
17           check as described in subsections (b) and (c) has been
 
18           convicted in any jurisdiction of a crime indicating the
 
19           individual may be unsuited for employment where the
 
20           individual provides care to residents or has access to
 
21           the personal belongings of residents or clients in
 
22           their own homes; provided that the period for which the
 
23           applicant or employee's conviction record is considered
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2063
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           shall not exceed ten years; and
 
 2      (2)  The judgment of conviction has not been vacated.  For
 
 3           purposes of this section, "conviction" means an
 
 4           adjudication by a court of competent jurisdiction that
 
 5           the applicant or employee committed a crime not
 
 6           including final judgments required to be confidential
 
 7           pursuant to section 571-84.
 
 8      The criminal history disclosure made by the applicant shall
 
 9 be verified by the department of health or the department of
 
10 human services by means of information obtained through the
 
11 Hawaii criminal justice data center and national criminal history
 
12 record files.
 
13      (e)  The applicant shall provide the department of human
 
14 services or the department of health with personal identifying
 
15 information including the applicant's name, social security
 
16 number, date of birth, sex, and permission to be fingerprinted.
 
17 This information shall be secured only for the purpose of
 
18 conducting the criminal history record check authorized by this
 
19 section.
 
20      (f)  The applicant shall submit to the department of health
 
21 or the department of human services, as appropriate:
 
22      (1)  A statement signed under penalty of perjury stating
 
23           whether the applicant has ever been convicted in the
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2063
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           previous ten years of a crime other than a minor
 
 2           traffic violation; and
 
 3      (2)  Written consent allowing the department of health or
 
 4           the department of human services, as appropriate, to
 
 5           request and obtain criminal history record information.
 
 6      (g)  The department of health or the department of human
 
 7 services, as appropriate, shall obtain criminal history record
 
 8 information through the Hawaii criminal justice data center and
 
 9 national criminal history record files on the applicant.  The
 
10 information obtained shall be used exclusively for the purpose of
 
11 conducting criminal history record checks authorized by this
 
12 section and shall be subject to applicable federal laws and
 
13 regulations currently or hereafter in effect.
 
14      (h)  The department of human services and the department of
 
15 health, as appropriate, shall not deny the registration or
 
16 licensure of a provider solely upon the basis of the criminal
 
17 conviction of the provider's prospective or current employee
 
18 where the conviction is not sufficiently related to the financial
 
19 or personal welfare or safety of the provider's residents, where
 
20 the current or prospective employee can demonstrate
 
21 rehabilitation, or where the current or prospective employee's
 
22 conviction occurred more than ten years prior to the registration
 
23 or licensure; provided that such convictions may be considered
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2063
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 where the current or prospective employee has criminal
 
 2 convictions relating to the financial or personal welfare or
 
 3 safety of the provider's residents occurring within the previous
 
 4 ten years."
 
 5      SECTION 2.  New statutory material is underscored.
 
 6      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
 7 
 
 8                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________