Page 1 - 131LR0158(03)
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-THREE
_____
H.P. 139 - L.D. 218
An Act to Clarify Maine Law Regarding Background Checks for the Office
of Child and Family Services
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §4008, sub-§2, ¶L, as repealed and replaced by PL 2015, c. 494,
Pt. A, §22, is amended to read:
L. A person, organization, employer or agency for the purpose of carrying out
background or employment-related screening of an individual who is or may be
engaged in:
(1) Child-related activities or employment; or
(2) Activities or employment relating to adults with intellectual disabilities,
autism, related conditions as set out in 42 Code of Federal Regulations, Section
435.1010 or acquired brain injury; and
Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §8101, sub-§6 is enacted to read:
6. Transitional living program.
home that provides board and care for up to 10 children and may provide one or more
services described in section 4099-E. For the purposes of this subsection, "children" means
persons under 21 years of age.
Sec. 3. 22 MRSA §8110, as amended by PL 2021, c. 42, §§1 to 3, is further amended
to read:
§8110. Criminal history record checks for employees of children's residential care
facilities, emergency children's shelters, shelters for homeless children and
any group home that provides care for children transitional living programs
1. Definitions.
following terms have the following meanings.
A. "Federal Bureau of Investigation" means the United States Department of Justice,
Federal Bureau of Investigation.
B. "State Police" means the Department of Public Safety, Bureau of State Police.
APPROVED
APRIL 24, 2023
BY GOVERNOR
CHAPTER
39
PUBLIC LAW Page 2 - 131LR0158(03)
2. Criminal history; information about criminal records and data obtained.
department shall obtain, in print or electronic format, criminal history record information
containing a record of public criminal history record information as defined in Title 16,
section 703, subsection 8, from the Maine Criminal Justice Information System, established
pursuant to Title 16, section 631, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for any staff
member of a children's residential care facility, an emergency children's shelter, a shelter
for homeless children or any group home that provides care for children a transitional living
program in order to comply with the federal Family First Prevention Services Act. For
purposes of this section, "staff member" means an individual who is employed by, or has
applied for and may be offered employment at, a children's residential care facility, an
emergency children's shelter, or a shelter for homeless children or any group home that
provides care for children with a transitional living program, including a contract employee
or self‑employed individual, whether or not the individual has direct contact with children.
"Staff member" does not include a contractor performing maintenance or repairs at the
children's residential care facility, emergency children's shelter, or shelter for homeless
children or group home that provides care for children for a transitional living program
who does not have unsupervised access to children at the facility, or shelter or group home
in the transitional living program.
3. Fingerprint-based criminal history obtained.
and have the staff member's fingerprints taken. The State Police shall take or cause to be
taken the fingerprints of a staff member who has consented under this subsection and shall
forward the fingerprints to the Department of Public Safety so that the Department of Public
Safety may conduct a state and national criminal history record check on the person. The
Department of Public Safety shall forward the results obtained to the department. The State
Police shall assess a fee set annually by the Department of Public Safety to be paid by the
children's residential care facility, emergency children's shelter, shelter for homeless
children or group home that provides care for children transitional living program or the
staff member for each criminal history record check required to be performed under this
section. Except for the portion of the payment that constitutes the processing fee charged
by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, all money received by the State Police under this
subsection must be paid to the Treasurer of State, who shall apply the money to the
expenses of administration of this section by the Department of Public Safety.
4. Updates to information.
history record check under subsection 3 on a staff member as the department determines
appropriate, including continuous notifications of updated criminal history record
information if a service providing notifications of updated criminal history record
information becomes available.
5. Confidentiality.
may not be disseminated for purposes other than as provided in subsections 6 and 7.
6. Use of information obtained.
pursuant to this section may be used by the department for employment purposes to screen
a staff member. The subject of any criminal history record check under subsection 3 may
contest any negative decision made by the department based upon the information received
pursuant to the criminal history record check.
7. Person's access to information obtained.
record check pursuant to subsection 3 must be notified each time a criminal history record Page 3 - 131LR0158(03)
check is performed on the person. A person subject to a criminal history record check
under subsection 3 may inspect and review the criminal history record information pursuant
to Title 16, section 709 and obtain federal information obtained pursuant to the criminal
history record check by following the procedures outlined in 28 Code of Federal
Regulations, Sections 16.32 and 16.33.
8. Right of subject to remove fingerprints from record.
subject to a criminal history record check pursuant to subsection 3, the Department of
Public Safety shall remove the person's fingerprints from the Department of Public Safety's
records and provide written confirmation of the removal to the person.