15-512

15-512. Noncertificated personnel;
fingerprinting personnel; background investigations; affidavit;
civil immunity; violation; classification; definition

A. Noncertificated personnel and personnel who are not paid employees of the school
district and who are not either the parent or the guardian of a pupil who attends school
in the school district but who are required or allowed to provide services directly to
pupils without the supervision of a certificated employee and who are initially hired by
a school district after January 1, 1990 shall be fingerprinted as a condition of
employment except for personnel who are required as a condition of licensing to be
fingerprinted if the license is required for employment or for personnel who were
previously employed by a school district and who reestablished employment with that
district within one year after the date that the employee terminated employment with the
district. A school district may release the results of a background check to another
school district for employment purposes. The employee's fingerprints and the form
prescribed in subsection D of this section shall be submitted to the school district
within twenty days after the date an employee begins work. A school district may
terminate an employee if the information on the form provided under subsection D of this
section is inconsistent with the information received from the fingerprint check. The
school district shall develop procedures for fingerprinting employees. For the purposes
of this subsection, "supervision" means under the direction of and, except for brief
periods of time during a school day or a school activity, within sight of a certificated
employee when providing direct services to pupils.

B. Fingerprints submitted pursuant to this section shall be used to conduct a state
and federal criminal records check pursuant to section 41-1750 and Public Law 92-544.
The department of public safety may exchange this fingerprint data with the federal
bureau of investigation.

C. The school district shall assume the costs of fingerprint checks and may charge
these costs to its fingerprinted employee, except that the school district may not charge
the costs of the fingerprint check to personnel of the school district who are not paid
employees. The fees charged for fingerprinting shall be deposited with the county
treasurer who shall credit the deposit to the fingerprint fund of the school
district. The costs charged to a fingerprinted employee are limited to and the proceeds
in the fund may only be applied to the actual costs, including personnel costs, incurred
as a result of the fingerprint checks. The fingerprint fund is a continuing fund which
is not subject to reversion.

D. Personnel required to be fingerprinted as prescribed in subsection A of this
section shall certify on forms that are provided by the school and notarized whether they
are awaiting trial on or have ever been convicted of or admitted in open court or
pursuant to a plea agreement committing any of the following criminal offenses in this
state or similar offenses in another jurisdiction:

1. Sexual abuse of a minor.

2. Incest.

3. First or second degree murder.

4. Kidnapping.

5. Arson.

6. Sexual assault.

7. Sexual exploitation of a minor.

8. Felony offenses involving contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

9. Commercial sexual exploitation of a minor.

10. Felony offenses involving sale, distribution or transportation of, offer to
sell, transport, or distribute or conspiracy to sell, transport or distribute marijuana
or dangerous or narcotic drugs.

11. Felony offenses involving the possession or use of marijuana, dangerous drugs or
narcotic drugs.

12. Misdemeanor offenses involving the possession or use of marijuana or dangerous
drugs.

13. Burglary in the first degree.

14. Burglary in the second or third degree.

15. Aggravated or armed robbery.

16. Robbery.

17. A dangerous crime against children as defined in section 13-705.

18. Child abuse.

19. Sexual conduct with a minor.

20. Molestation of a child.

21. Manslaughter.

22. Aggravated assault.

23. Assault.

24. Exploitation of minors involving drug offenses.

E. A school district may refuse to hire or may review or terminate personnel who
have been convicted of or admitted committing any of the criminal offenses prescribed in
subsection D of this section or of a similar offense in another jurisdiction. A school
district which is considering terminating an employee pursuant to this subsection shall
hold a hearing to determine whether a person already employed shall be terminated. In
conducting a review, the governing board shall utilize the guidelines, including the list
of offenses that are not subject to review, as prescribed by the state board of education
pursuant to section 15-534, subsection C. In considering whether to hire or terminate
the employment of a person the governing board shall take into account the following
factors:

1. The nature of the crime and the potential for crimes against children.

2. Offenses committed as a minor for which proceedings were held under the
jurisdiction of a juvenile or an adult court.

3. Offenses that have been expunged by a court of competent jurisdiction, if the
person has been pardoned or if the person's sentence has been commuted.

4. The employment record of the person since the commission of the crime if the
crime was committed more than ten years before the governing board's consideration of
whether to hire or terminate the person.

5. The reliability of the evidence of an admission of a crime unless made under
oath in a court of competent jurisdiction.

F. Before employment with the school district, the district shall make documented,
good faith efforts to contact previous employers of a person to obtain information and
recommendations which may be relevant to a person's fitness for employment. A governing
board shall adopt procedures for conducting background investigations required by this
subsection, including one or more standard forms for use by school district officials to
document their efforts to obtain information from previous employers. A school district
may provide information received as a result of a background investigation required by
this section to any other school district, to any other public school and to any public
entity that agrees pursuant to a contract or intergovernmental agreement to perform
background investigations for school districts or other public schools. School districts
and other public schools may enter into intergovernmental agreements pursuant to section
11-952 and cooperative purchasing agreements pursuant to rules adopted in accordance with
section 15-213 for the purposes of performing or contracting for the performance of
background investigations and for sharing the results of background investigations
required by this subsection. Information obtained about an employee or applicant for
employment by any school district or other public school in the performance of a
background investigation may be retained by that school district or the other public
school or by any public entity that agrees pursuant to contract to perform background
investigations for school districts or other public schools and may be provided to any
school district or other public school that is performing a background investigation
required by this subsection.

G. A school district may fingerprint any other employee of the district, whether
paid or not, or any other applicant for employment with the school district not otherwise
required by this section to be fingerprinted on the condition that the school district
may not charge the costs of the fingerprint check to the fingerprinted applicant or
nonpaid employee.

H. A contractor, subcontractor or vendor or any employee of a contractor,
subcontractor or vendor who is contracted to provide services on a regular basis at an
individual school shall obtain a valid fingerprint clearance card pursuant to title 41,
chapter 12, article 3.1. By December 31, 2009, a school district governing board shall
adopt policies to be implemented sixty days after adoption that may exempt from the
requirements of this subsection persons who, as part of the normal job duties of the
persons, are not likely to have independent access to or unsupervised contact with
pupils. A school district, its governing board members, its school council members and
its employees are exempt from civil liability for the consequences of adoption and
implementation of policies and procedures pursuant to this subsection unless the school
district, its governing board members, its school council members or its employees are
guilty of gross negligence or intentional misconduct.

I. Subsection A of this section does not apply to a person who provides instruction
or other education services to a pupil, with the written consent of the parent or
guardian of the pupil, under a work release program, advance placement course or other
education program that occurs off school property.

J. Public entities that agree pursuant to contract to perform background
investigations, public schools, the department of education and previous employers who
provide information pursuant to this section are immune from civil liability unless the
information provided is false and is acted on by the school district to the harm of the
employee and the public entity, the public school, the previous employer or the
department of education knows the information is false or acts with reckless disregard of
the information's truth or falsity. A school district which relies on information
obtained pursuant to this section in making employment decisions is immune from civil
liability for use of the information unless the information obtained is false and the
school district knows the information is false or acts with reckless disregard of the
information's truth or falsity.

K. The superintendent of a school district or chief administrator of a charter
school or the person's designee who is responsible for implementing the governing board's
policy regarding background investigations required by subsection F of this section and
who fails to carry out that responsibility is guilty of unprofessional conduct and shall
be subject to disciplinary action by the state board.

L. A school district may hire noncertificated personnel before receiving the
results of the fingerprint check but may terminate employment if the information on the
form provided in subsection D of this section is inconsistent with the information
received from the fingerprint check. In addition to any other conditions or requirements
deemed necessary by the superintendent of public instruction to protect the health and
safety of pupils, noncertificated personnel who are required or allowed unsupervised
contact with pupils may be hired by school districts before the results of a fingerprint
check are received if all of the following conditions are met:

1. The school district that is seeking to hire the applicant shall document in the
applicant's file the necessity for hiring and placement of the applicant before a
fingerprint check could be completed.

2. The school district that is seeking to hire the applicant shall do all of the
following:

(a) Ensure that the department of public safety completes a statewide criminal
history information check on the applicant. A statewide criminal history information
check shall be completed by the department of public safety every one hundred twenty days
until the date that the fingerprint check is completed.

(b) Obtain references from the applicant's current employer and two most recent
previous employers except for applicants who have been employed for at least five years
by the applicant's most recent employer.

(d) Report to the superintendent of public instruction on June 30 and December 31
the number of applicants hired before the completion of a fingerprint check. In
addition, the school district shall report the number of applicants for whom fingerprint
checks were not received after one hundred twenty days and after one hundred seventy-five
days of hire.

M. Notwithstanding any other law, this section does not apply to pupils who attend
school in a school district and who are also employed by a school district.

N. A person who makes a false statement, representation or certification in any
application for employment with the school district is guilty of a class 3 misdemeanor.

O. For the purposes of this section, "background investigation" means any
communication with an employee's or applicant's former employer that concerns the
education, training, experience, qualifications and job performance of the employee or
applicant and that is used for the purpose of evaluating the employee or applicant for
employment. Background investigation does not include the results of any state or federal
criminal history records check.