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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to background screenings; amending s. 2
435.02, F.S.; revising definitions; amending ss. 3
435.04 and 435.12, F.S.; removing obsolete provisions; 4
amending s. 943.0438, F.S.; requiring certain athletic 5
coaches receive level 2 background screenin gs; 6
requiring such coaches be rescreened at a specified 7
time interval; providing an exception; amending s. 8
943.05, F.S.; deleting provisions concerning 9
conditions precedent to the retention of certain 10
fingerprints; requiring the Criminal Justice 11
Information Program to develop a method for direct 12
identification using biometric data; amending s. 13
943.0542, F.S.; requiring the Department of Law 14
Enforcement to periodically audit specified entities; 15
deleting authorization for nonelectronic submission of 16
fingerprints for certain background screenings; 17
requiring a waiver include a specified statement; 18
deleting a requirement that specified persons make a 19
certain disclosure; revising the entity required to 20
provide certain criminal history records; deleting a 21
requirement that the department provide certain 22
criminal history records; prohibiting qualified 23
entities from specified associations with certain 24
persons; deleting a requirement that the department 25
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must establish a certain database; requiring the 26
department to issue a certain decal to specified 27
entities; authorizing the department to design such 28
decal; providing requirements for such decal; 29
requiring specified entities to display such decal in 30
a certain location; authorizing the department to 31
impose a fine for viola tions; amending s. 1012.32, 32
F.S.; requiring use of the Care Provider Background 33
Screening Clearinghouse for certain events; expanding 34
the types of background screenings used to determine 35
certain eligibility; removing a requirement for the 36
reimbursement of certain costs; amending s. 1012.465, 37
F.S.; requiring the use of the Care Provider 38
Background Screening Clearinghouse for certain events; 39
amending s. 1012.467, F.S.; requiring the use of the 40
Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse for 41
certain events; requiring school districts pay a 42
specified fee to use the Care Provider Background 43
Screening Clearing House; deleting a provision 44
requiring the purging of certain biometric 45
identification; amending s. 1012.56, F.S.; requiring 46
the Care Provider Backgroun d Screening House be used 47
for certain events; providing an effective date. 48
49
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 50
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51
Section 1. Subsections (2) and (5) of section 435.02, 52
Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 53
435.02 Definitions.—For the purposes of this chapter, the 54
term: 55
(2) "Employee" means any person required by law to be 56
screened pursuant to this chapter, including, but not limited 57
to, persons who are contractors, licensees, or volunteers. A 58
volunteer who assists on an int ermittent basis for less than 10 59
hours per month is not an employee for the purposes of screening 60
if an employer authorized person who meets the level 2 screening 61
requirements in accordance with s. 435.04, is always present and 62
has the exempt volunteer wit hin his or her line of sight.. 63
(5) "Specified agency" means the Department of Health, the 64
Department of Children and Families, the Department of 65
Education, the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation within the 66
Department of Education, the Agency for Healt h Care 67
Administration, the Department of Elderly Affairs, the 68
Department of Juvenile Justice, the Agency for Persons with 69
Disabilities, regional workforce boards providing services as 70
defined in s. 445.002(3), each district unit under s. 1001.30, 71
special district units under s. 1011.24, the Florida School for 72
the Deaf and the Blind under s. 1002.36, the Florida Virtual 73
School under s. 1002.37, virtual instruction programs under s. 74
1002.45, charter schools under s. 1002.33, hope operators under 75
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s. 1002.333, early learning coalitions under s. 1002.83, 76
qualified entities as defined in s. 943.0542(1), and local 77
licensing agencies approved pursuant to s. 402.307, when these 78
agencies are conducting state and national criminal history 79
background screening on person s who work with children or 80
persons who are elderly or disabled. 81
Section 2. Paragraph (e) of paragraph (1) of section 82
435.04, Florida Statutes, is redesignated as paragraph (d), and 83
paragraph (b) and present paragraph (d) of that subsection are 84
amended to read: 85
435.04 Level 2 screening standards. — 86
(1) 87
(b) Fingerprints submitted pursuant to this section on or 88
after July 1, 2012, must be submitted electronically to the 89
Department of Law Enforcement. 90
(d) An agency may require by rule that fingerprin ts 91
submitted pursuant to this section must be submitted 92
electronically to the Department of Law Enforcement on a date 93
earlier than July 1, 2012. 94
Section 3. Subsection (3) of section 435.12, Florida 95
Statutes, is amended to read: 96
435.12 Care Provider B ackground Screening Clearinghouse. — 97
(3) An employee who has undergone a fingerprint -based 98
criminal history check by a specified agency before the 99
clearinghouse is operational is not required to be checked again 100
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solely for the purpose of entry in the clea ringhouse. Every 101
employee who is or will become subject to fingerprint -based 102
criminal history checks to be eligible to be licensed, have 103
their license renewed, or meet screening or rescreening 104
requirements by a specified agency once the specified agency 105
participates in the clearinghouse shall be subject to the 106
requirements of this section with respect to entry of records in 107
the clearinghouse and retention of fingerprints for reporting 108
the results of searching against state incoming arrest 109
fingerprint submissions. 110
Section 4. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (2) of 111
section 943.0438, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 112
943.0438 Athletic coaches for independent sanctioning 113
authorities.— 114
(2) An independent sanctioning authority shall: 115
(a)1. Conduct a level 2 1 background screening pursuant to 116
s. 435.04 s. 435.03 of each current and prospective athletic 117
coach. The authority may not delegate this responsibility to an 118
individual team and may not authorize any person to act as an 119
athletic coach unless a level 2 1 background screening has been 120
is conducted and has does not resulted result in 121
disqualification under s. 435.04(2) paragraph (b). Level 1 122
background screenings shall be conducted annually for each 123
athletic coach. For purposes of th is section, a background 124
screening shall include a search of the athletic coach's name or 125
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other identifying information against state and federal 126
registries of sexual predators and sexual offenders, which are 127
available to the public on Internet sites provi ded by: 128
a. The Department of Law Enforcement under s. 943.043; and 129
b. The Attorney General of the United States under 42 130
U.S.C. s. 16920. 131
2. For purposes of this section, an athletic coach who is 132
required to be screened according to the level 2 scree ning 133
standards contained in chapter 435, pursuant to this section, 134
must be rescreened every 5 years after the date of his or her 135
last background screening or exemption, unless his or her 136
fingerprints are continuously retained and monitored by the 137
Department of Law Enforcement in the federal fingerprint 138
retention program according to the procedures specified in s. 139
943.05 a background screening conducted by a commercial consumer 140
reporting agency in compliance with the federal Fair Credit 141
Reporting Act using t he identifying information referenced in 142
subparagraph 1. that includes a level 1 background screening and 143
a search of that information against the sexual predator and 144
sexual offender Internet sites listed in sub -subparagraphs 1.a. 145
and b. shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of this 146
paragraph. 147
(b) Disqualify any person from acting as an athletic coach 148
as provided in s. 435.04 s. 435.03 or if he or she is identified 149
on a registry described in paragraph (a) . The authority may 150
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allow a person disqualifi ed under this paragraph to act as an 151
athletic coach if it determines that the person meets the 152
requirements for an exemption from disqualification under s. 153
435.07. 154
Section 5. Paragraphs (g) and (h) of subsection (2) of 155
section 943.05, Florida Statutes, are amended, and paragraph (i) 156
is added to that subsection, to read: 157
943.05 Criminal Justice Information Program; duties; crime 158
reports.— 159
(2) The program shall: 160
(g) Upon official written request, and subject to the 161
department having sufficient funds and equipment to participate 162
in such a request, from the agency executive director or 163
secretary or from his or her designee, or from qualified 164
entities participating in the volunteer and employee criminal 165
history screening system under s. 943.0542, or as otherwise 166
required by law, Retain fingerprints submitted by criminal and 167
noncriminal justice agencies to the department for a criminal 168
history background screening as provided by rule and enter the 169
fingerprints in the statewide automated biometric identifi cation 170
system authorized by paragraph (b). Such fingerprints shall 171
thereafter be available for all purposes and uses authorized for 172
arrest fingerprint submissions entered into the statewide 173
automated biometric identification system pursuant to s. 174
943.051. 175
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(h) For each agency or qualified entity that officially 176
requests retention of fingerprints or for which retention is 177
otherwise required by law, Search all arrest fingerprint 178
submissions received under s. 943.051 against the fingerprints 179
retained in the statewide automated biometric identification 180
system under paragraph (g). 181
1. Any arrest record that is identified with the retained 182
fingerprints of a person subject to background screening as 183
provided in paragraph (g) shall be reported to the appropriate 184
agency or qualified entity. 185
2. To participate in this search process, agencies or 186
qualified entities must notify each person fingerprinted that 187
his or her fingerprints will be retained, pay an annual fee to 188
the department unless otherwise provided by law, and inform the 189
department of any change in the affiliation, employment, or 190
contractual status of each person whose fingerprints are 191
retained under paragraph (g) if such change removes or 192
eliminates the agency or qualified entity's basis or need for 193
receiving reports of any arrest of that person, so that the 194
agency or qualified entity is not obligated to pay the upcoming 195
annual fee for the retention and searching of that person's 196
fingerprints to the department. The department shall adopt a 197
rule setting the amount of the annual fee to be imposed upon 198
each participating agency or qualified entity for performing 199
these searches and establishing the procedures for the retention 200
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of fingerprints and the dissemination of search results. The fee 201
may be borne by the a gency, qualified entity, or person subject 202
to fingerprint retention or as otherwise provided by law. 203
Consistent with the recognition of criminal justice agencies 204
expressed in s. 943.053(3), these services shall be provided to 205
criminal justice agencies for criminal justice purposes free of 206
charge. Qualified entities that elect to participate in the 207
fingerprint retention and search process are required to timely 208
remit the fee to the department by a payment mechanism approved 209
by the department. If requested by the qualified entity, and 210
with the approval of the department, such fees may be timely 211
remitted to the department by a qualified entity upon receipt of 212
an invoice for such fees from the department. Failure of a 213
qualified entity to pay the amount due on a timely basis or as 214
invoiced by the department may result in the refusal by the 215
department to permit the qualified entity to continue to 216
participate in the fingerprint retention and search process 217
until all fees due and owing are paid. 218
3. Agencies that pa rticipate in the fingerprint retention 219
and search process may adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) 220
and 120.54 to require employers to keep the agency informed of 221
any change in the affiliation, employment, or contractual status 222
of each person whose finger prints are retained under paragraph 223
(g) if such change removes or eliminates the agency's basis or 224
need for receiving reports of any arrest of that person, so that 225
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the agency is not obligated to pay the upcoming annual fee for 226
the retention and searching o f that person's fingerprints to the 227
department. 228
(i) Develop a method for establishing identification 229
through automated biometrics which may include, but is not 230
limited to, the use of latent fingerprints, palm prints, facial 231
recognition, or retina scans. 232
Section 6. Subsections (8) and (9) of section 943.0542, 233
Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (9) and (10), 234
respectively, paragraphs (a), (b), and (d) of subsection (2), 235
subsections (3), (4), (5), and (7) are amended, and a new 236
subsection (7) and subsection (8) are added to that section, to 237
read: 238
943.0542 Access to criminal history information provided 239
by the department to qualified entities. — 240
(2)(a) A qualified entity must register with the 241
department before submitting a request for scree ning under this 242
section. Each such request must be voluntary and conform to the 243
requirements established in the National Child Protection Act of 244
1993, as amended. As a part of the registration, the qualified 245
entity must agree to comply with state and feder al law and must 246
so indicate by signing an agreement approved by the department. 247
The department shall may periodically audit qualified entities 248
to ensure compliance with federal law and this section. 249
(b) A qualified entity shall submit to the Care Provider 250
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Background Screening Clearinghouse department a request for 251
screening an employee or volunteer or person applying to be an 252
employee or volunteer by submitting fingerprints , or the request 253
may be submitted electronically. The qualified entity must 254
maintain a signed waiver allowing the release of the state and 255
national criminal history record information to the qualified 256
entity. The waiver must include a statement that the department 257
shall retain the fingerprints of the criminal history background 258
screening of each employee or volunteer as provided by rule and 259
enter the fingerprints in the statewide automated biometric 260
identification method under s. 943.05(2)(i). 261
(d) Any current or prospective employee or volunteer who 262
is subject to a request for screening must indicate to the 263
qualified entity submitting the request the name and address of 264
each qualified entity that has submitted a previous request for 265
screening regarding that employee or volunteer. 266
(3) The Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse 267
department shall provide directly to the qualified entity the 268
state criminal history records that are not exempt from 269
disclosure under chapter 119 or otherwise confidential under 270
law. A person who is the subject of a state criminal history 271
record may challenge the record only as provided in s. 943.056. 272
(4) The national criminal history data is available to 273
qualified entities to use only for the purpose of screening 274
employees and volunteers or persons applying to be an employee 275
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or volunteer with a qualifi ed entity. The department shall 276
provide this national criminal history record information 277
directly to the qualified entity as authorized by the written 278
waiver required for submission of a request to the department. 279
(5) The determination whether the crimi nal history record 280
shows that the employee or volunteer has been convicted of or is 281
under pending indictment for any crime that bears upon the 282
fitness of the employee or volunteer to have responsibility for 283
the safety and well-being of children, the elderl y, or disabled 284
persons shall solely be made by the qualified entity ; however, a 285
qualified entity may not employ or allow a volunteer who is 286
disqualified under s. 435.04(2) or (3) . This section does not 287
require the department to make such a determination on behalf of 288
any qualified entity. 289
(7) The department shall issue a compliance decal to each 290
registered qualified entity annually. The department may by rule 291
designate the specific design of the decal, provided that such 292
design includes a prominent expirat ion date. 293
(8) A qualified entity that provides care must display the 294
compliance decal in a conspicuous location clearly visible to 295
the public. The department may impose an administrative fine for 296
each violation of this subsection. Such fine must be at le ast 297
$1,000. 298
(7) The department may establish a database of registered 299
qualified entities and make this data available free of charge 300
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to all registered qualified entities. The database must include, 301
at a minimum, the name, address, and phone number of eac h 302
qualified entity. 303
Section 7. Subsection (2) and paragraphs (b) and (c) of 304
subsection (3) of section 1012.32, Florida Statutes, are amended 305
to read: 306
1012.32 Qualifications of personnel. — 307
(2)(a) Instructional and noninstructional personnel who 308
are hired or contracted to fill positions that require direct 309
contact with students in any district school system or 310
university lab school must, upon employment or engagement to 311
provide services, undergo background screening as required unde r 312
s. 1012.465 or s. 1012.56, whichever is applicable. 313
(b)1. Instructional and noninstructional personnel who are 314
hired or contracted to fill positions in a charter school other 315
than a school of hope as defined in s. 1002.333, and members of 316
the governing board of such charter school, in compliance with 317
s. 1002.33(12)(g), upon employment, engagement of services, or 318
appointment, shall undergo background screening as required 319
under s. 1012.465 or s. 1012.56, whichever is applicable, by 320
filing with the distri ct school board for the school district in 321
which the charter school is located a complete set of 322
fingerprints taken by an authorized law enforcement agency or an 323
employee of the school or school district who is trained to take 324
fingerprints. 325
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2. Instructional and noninstructional personnel who are 326
hired or contracted to fill positions in a school of hope as 327
defined in s. 1002.333, and members of the governing board of 328
such school of hope, shall file with the school of hope a 329
complete set of fingerprints tak en by an authorized law 330
enforcement agency, by an employee of the school of hope or 331
school district who is trained to take fingerprints, or by any 332
other entity recognized by the Department of Law Enforcement to 333
take fingerprints. 334
(c) Instructional and no ninstructional personnel who are 335
hired or contracted to fill positions that require direct 336
contact with students in an alternative school that operates 337
under contract with a district school system must, upon 338
employment or engagement to provide services, un dergo background 339
screening as required under s. 1012.465 or s. 1012.56, whichever 340
is applicable, by filing with the district school board for the 341
school district to which the alternative school is under 342
contract a complete set of fingerprints taken by an a uthorized 343
law enforcement agency or an employee of the school or school 344
district who is trained to take fingerprints. 345
(d) Student teachers and persons participating in a field 346
experience pursuant to s. 1004.04(5) or s. 1004.85 in any 347
district school syst em, lab school, or charter school must, upon 348
engagement to provide services, undergo background screening as 349
required under s. 1012.56. 350
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351
Required fingerprints must be submitted to the Department of Law 352
Enforcement through the Care Provider Background Scree ning 353
Clearinghouse under s. 435.12 for statewide criminal and 354
juvenile records checks and to the Federal Bureau of 355
Investigation for federal criminal records checks. A person 356
subject to this subsection who is found ineligible for 357
employment under s. 435.04(2) or (3) or s. 1012.315, or 358
otherwise found through background screening to have been 359
convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude as defined by 360
rule of the State Board of Education, shall not be employed, 361
engaged to provide services, or serve in any position that 362
requires direct contact with students. Probationary persons 363
subject to this subsection terminated because of their criminal 364
record have the right to appeal such decisions. The cost of the 365
background screening may be borne by the district sch ool board, 366
the charter school, the employee, the contractor, or a person 367
subject to this subsection. A district school board shall 368
reimburse a charter school the cost of background screening if 369
it does not notify the charter school of the eligibility of a 370
governing board member or instructional or noninstructional 371
personnel within the earlier of 14 days after receipt of the 372
background screening results from the Florida Department of Law 373
Enforcement or 30 days of submission of fingerprints by the 374
governing board member or instructional or noninstructional 375
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personnel. 376
(3) 377
(b) The Department of Law Enforcement shall search all 378
arrest fingerprints received under s. 943.051 against the 379
fingerprints retained in the statewide automated biometric 380
identification system under paragraph (a). Any arrest record 381
that is identified with the retained fingerprints of a person 382
subject to the background screening under this section shall be 383
reported to the employing or contracting school district or the 384
school district with w hich the person is affiliated through an 385
alert from the Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse 386
under s. 435.12. Each school district is required to participate 387
in this search process by payment of an annual fee to the 388
Department of Law Enforcemen t and by informing the Department of 389
Law Enforcement of any change in the affiliation, employment, or 390
contractual status or place of affiliation, employment, or 391
contracting of its instructional and noninstructional personnel 392
whose fingerprints are retained under paragraph (a) through an 393
alert from the Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse 394
under s. 435.12. The Department of Law Enforcement shall adopt a 395
rule setting the amount of the annual fee to be imposed upon 396
each school district for performin g these searches and 397
establishing the procedures for the retention of instructional 398
and noninstructional personnel fingerprints and the 399
dissemination of search results. The fee may be borne by the 400
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district school board, the contractor, or the person 401
fingerprinted. 402
(c) Personnel whose fingerprints are not retained by the 403
Department of Law Enforcement under paragraphs (a) and (b) must 404
be refingerprinted and rescreened in accordance with subsection 405
(2) upon reemployment or reengagement to provide services in 406
order to comply with the requirements of this subsection. 407
Section 8. Subsection (2) of section 1012.465, Florida 408
Statutes, is amended to read: 409
1012.465 Background screening requirements for certain 410
noninstructional school district employees and cont ractors.— 411
(2) Every 5 years following employment or entry into a 412
contract in a capacity described in subsection (1), each person 413
who is so employed or under contract with the school district 414
must meet level 2 screening requirements as described in s. 415
1012.32, at which time the school district , through the Care 416
Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse under s. 435.12, 417
shall request the Department of Law Enforcement to forward the 418
fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the 419
level 2 screening. If, for any reason following employment or 420
entry into a contract in a capacity described in subsection (1), 421
the fingerprints of a person who is so employed or under 422
contract with the school district are not retained by the 423
Department of Law Enforcemen t under s. 1012.32(3)(a) and (b), 424
the person must file a complete set of fingerprints with the 425
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district school superintendent of the employing or contracting 426
school district through the Care Provider Background Screening 427
Clearinghouse under s. 435.12 . Upon submission of fingerprints 428
for this purpose, the school district shall request the 429
Department of Law Enforcement to forward the fingerprints to the 430
Federal Bureau of Investigation for the level 2 screening, and 431
the fingerprints shall be retained by the De partment of Law 432
Enforcement under s. 1012.32(3)(a) and (b). The cost of the 433
state and federal criminal history check required by level 2 434
screening may be borne by the district school board, the 435
contractor, or the person fingerprinted. Under penalty of 436
perjury, each person who is employed or under contract in a 437
capacity described in subsection (1) must agree to inform his or 438
her employer or the party with whom he or she is under contract 439
within 48 hours if convicted of any disqualifying offense while 440
he or she is employed or under contract in that capacity. 441
Section 9. Paragraphs (f) and (g) of subsection (2) of 442
section 1012.467, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as 443
paragraphs (e) and (f), respectively, paragraphs (a), (b), (d), 444
and (e) of subsection (2), subsections (3) through (6), and 445
paragraph (a) of subsection (7) of that section, are amended, to 446
read: 447
1012.467 Noninstructional contractors who are permitted 448
access to school grounds when students are present; background 449
screening requirements. — 450
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(2)(a) A fingerprint-based criminal history check shall be 451
performed on each noninstructional contractor who is permitted 452
access to school grounds when students are present, whose 453
performance of the contract with the school or school board is 454
not anticipated to result in direct contact with students, and 455
for whom any unanticipated contact would be infrequent and 456
incidental. Criminal history checks shall be performed at least 457
once every 5 years. For the initial criminal history check, each 458
noninstructional cont ractor who is subject to the criminal 459
history check shall file with the Department of Law Enforcement , 460
through the Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse 461
under s. 435.12, a complete set of fingerprints taken by an 462
authorized law enforcement agenc y or an employee of a school 463
district, a public school, or a private company who is trained 464
to take fingerprints. Using the Care Provider Background 465
Screening Clearinghouse under s. 435.12, the fingerprints shall 466
be electronically submitted for state proce ssing to the 467
Department of Law Enforcement, which shall in turn submit the 468
fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for national 469
processing. The results of each criminal history check shall be 470
reported to the school district in which the individ ual is 471
seeking access and entered into the shared system described in 472
subsection (7). The school district shall screen the results 473
using the disqualifying offenses in paragraph (f)(g). The cost 474
of the criminal history check may be borne by the district 475
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school board, the school, or the contractor. A fee that is 476
charged by a district school board for such checks may not 477
exceed 30 percent of the total amount charged by the Department 478
of Law Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 479
(b) As authorized by law, the Department of Law 480
Enforcement shall retain the fingerprints submitted by the 481
school districts pursuant to this subsection to the Department 482
of Law Enforcement for a criminal history background screening 483
in a manner provided by rule and enter the fingerprints in the 484
statewide automated biometric identification system authorized 485
by s. 943.05(2)(b). The fingerprints shall thereafter be 486
available for all purposes and uses authorized for arrest 487
fingerprints entered into the statewide automated bio metric 488
identification system under s. 943.051. 489
(d) School districts may participate in the search process 490
described in this subsection by using the Care Provider 491
Background Screening Clearinghouse under s. 435.12 and paying 492
any applicable an annual fees fee to the Agency for Healthcare 493
Administration or the Department of Law Enforcement. 494
(e) A fingerprint retained pursuant to this subsection 495
shall be purged from the automated biometric identification 496
system 5 years following the date the fingerprint was initially 497
submitted. The Department of Law Enforcement shall set the 498
amount of the annual fee to be imposed upon each participating 499
agency for performing these searches and establishing the 500
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procedures for retaining fingerprints and disseminating search 501
results. The fee may be borne as provided by law. Fees may be 502
waived or reduced by the executive director of the Department of 503
Law Enforcement for good cause shown. 504
(3) If it is found that a noninstructional contractor has 505
been convicted of any of the offe nses listed in paragraph 506
(2)(f)(2)(g), the individual shall be immediately suspended from 507
having access to school grounds and shall remain suspended 508
unless and until the conviction is set aside in any 509
postconviction proceeding. 510
(4) A noninstructional con tractor who has been convicted 511
of any of the offenses listed in paragraph (2)(f)(2)(g) may not 512
be permitted on school grounds when students are present unless 513
the contractor has received a full pardon or has had his or her 514
civil rights restored. A noninstr uctional contractor who is 515
present on school grounds in violation of this subsection 516
commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in 517
s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. 518
(5) If a school district has reasonable cause to believe 519
that grounds exist for the denial of a contractor's access to 520
school grounds when students are present, it shall notify the 521
contractor in writing, stating the specific record that 522
indicates noncompliance with the standards set forth in this 523
section. It is the responsibility of the affected contractor to 524
contest his or her denial. The only basis for contesting the 525
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denial is proof of mistaken identity or that an offense from 526
another jurisdiction is not disqualifying under paragraph 527
(2)(f)(2)(g). 528
(6) Each contractor who is subjec t to the requirements of 529
this section shall agree to inform his or her employer or the 530
party to whom he or she is under contract and the school 531
district within 48 hours if he or she is arrested for any of the 532
disqualifying offenses in paragraph (2)(f)(2)(g). A contractor 533
who willfully fails to comply with this subsection commits a 534
felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 535
or s. 775.083. If the employer of a contractor or the party to 536
whom the contractor is under contract knows the con tractor has 537
been arrested for any of the disqualifying offenses in paragraph 538
(2)(f)(2)(g) and authorizes the contractor to be present on 539
school grounds when students are present, such employer or such 540
party commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as 541
provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. 542
(7)(a) The Care Provider Background Screening 543
Clearinghouse under s. 435.12 Department of Law Enforcement 544
shall allow implement a system that allows for the results of a 545
criminal history check provided to a school district to be 546
shared with other school districts through a secure Internet 547
website or other secure electronic means. School districts must 548
accept reciprocity of level 2 screenings for Florida High School 549
Athletic Association officials. 550
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Section 10. Paragraph (b) of subsection (10) of section 551
1012.56, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 552
1012.56 Educator certification requirements. — 553
(10) BACKGROUND SCREENING REQUIRED, INITIALLY AND 554
PERIODICALLY.— 555
(b) A person may not receive a certificate under t his 556
chapter until the person's screening under s. 1012.32 is 557
completed and the results have been submitted to the Department 558
of Education or to the district school superintendent of the 559
school district that employs the person. Every 5 years after 560
obtaining initial certification, each person who is required to 561
be certified under this chapter must be rescreened in accordance 562
with s. 1012.32, at which time the school district shall , 563
through the Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse 564
under s. 435.12, request the Department of Law Enforcement to 565
forward the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation 566
for federal criminal records checks. If, for any reason after 567
obtaining initial certification, the fingerprints of a person 568
who is required to be c ertified under this chapter are not 569
retained by the Department of Law Enforcement under s. 570
1012.32(3)(a) and (b), the person must file a complete set of 571
fingerprints with the district school superintendent of the 572
employing school district. Upon submission of fingerprints for 573
this purpose, the school district shall use the Care Provider 574
Background Screening Clearinghouse under s. 435.12 to request 575
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the Department of Law Enforcement to forward the fingerprints to 576
the Federal Bureau of Investigation for federal criminal records 577
checks, and the fingerprints shall be retained by the Department 578
of Law Enforcement under s. 1012.32(3)(a) and (b). The cost of 579
the state and federal criminal history checks required by 580
paragraph (a) and this paragraph may be borne by the district 581
school board or the employee. Under penalty of perjury, each 582
person who is certified under this chapter must agree to inform 583
his or her employer within 48 hours if convicted of any 584
disqualifying offense while he or she is employed in a position 585
for which such certification is required. 586
Section 11. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 587