EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 460
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR GREGORY (21).
0982S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal section 168.133, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to public
school background checks.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 168.133, RSMo, is repealed and one new 1
section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 168.133, 2
to read as follows:3
168.133. 1. As used in this section, "screened 1
volunteer" shall mean any person who assists a school by 2
providing uncompensated service and who may periodically be 3
left alone with students. The school district or charter 4
school shall ensure that a criminal backgrou nd check is 5
conducted for all screened volunteers, who shall complete 6
the criminal background check prior to being left alone with 7
a student. [Screened volunteers include, but are not 8
limited to, persons who regularly assist in the office or 9
library, mentor or tutor students, coach or supervise a 10
school-sponsored activity before or after school, or 11
chaperone students on an overnight trip. ] Screened 12
volunteers may only access student education records when 13
necessary to assist the district and whil e supervised by 14
staff members. Volunteers that are not screened shall not 15
be left alone with a student or have access to student 16
records. 17 SB 460 2
2. (1) The school district or charter school shall 18
ensure that a criminal background check is conducted on any 19
person employed after January 1, 2005, authorized to have 20
contact with pupils and prior to the individual having 21
contact with any pupil. [Such persons include, but are not 22
limited to, administrators, teachers, aides, 23
paraprofessionals, assistant s, secretaries, custodians, 24
cooks, screened volunteers, and nurses. ] 25
(2) The school district or charter school shall also 26
ensure that a criminal background check is conducted for 27
school bus drivers and drivers of other vehicles owned by 28
the school district or charter school or operated under 29
contract with a school district or charter school and used 30
for the purpose of transporting school children . The school 31
district or charter school may allow such drivers to operate 32
buses pending the resu lt of the criminal background check. 33
[For bus drivers,] The school district or charter school 34
shall be responsible for conducting the criminal background 35
check on drivers employed by the school district or charter 36
school under section 43.540 . 37
(3) For drivers employed or contracted by a pupil 38
transportation company under contract with the school 39
district or the charter school , the criminal background 40
check shall be conducted by the pupil transportation company 41
pursuant to section [43.540] 43.539 and conform to the 42
requirements established in the National Child Protection 43
Act of 1993, as amended by the Volunteers for Children Act. 44
(4) Personnel who have successfully undergone a 45
criminal background check and a check of the family car e 46
safety registry as part of the professional license 47
application process under section 168.021 and who have 48
received clearance on the checks within one prior year of 49 SB 460 3
employment shall be considered to have completed the 50
background check requirement. 51
(5) A criminal background check under this section 52
shall include a search of any information publicly available 53
in an electronic format through a public index or single 54
case display. 55
3. In order to facilitate the criminal history 56
background check, the applicant shall submit a set of 57
fingerprints collected pursuant to standards determined by 58
the Missouri highway patrol. The fingerprints shall be used 59
by the highway patrol to search the criminal history 60
repository and shall be forwarded to the Federal Bureau of 61
Investigation for searching the federal criminal history 62
files. 63
4. The applicant shall pay the fee for the state 64
criminal history record information pursuant to section 65
43.530 and sections 210.900 to 210.936 and pay the 66
appropriate fee determined by the Federal Bureau of 67
Investigation for the federal criminal history record when 68
he or she applies for a position authorized to have contact 69
with pupils pursuant to this section. The department shall 70
distribute the fees c ollected for the state and federal 71
criminal histories to the Missouri highway patrol. 72
5. The department of elementary and secondary 73
education shall facilitate an annual check of employed 74
persons holding current active certificates under section 75
168.021 against criminal history records in the central 76
repository under section 43.530, the sexual offender 77
registry under sections 589.400 to 589.426, and child abuse 78
central registry under sections 210.109 to 210.183. The 79
department of elementary an d secondary education shall 80
facilitate procedures for school districts to submit 81 SB 460 4
personnel information annually for persons employed by the 82
school districts who do not hold a current valid certificate 83
who are required by subsection 1 of this section to undergo 84
a criminal background check, sexual offender registry check, 85
and child abuse central registry check. The Missouri state 86
highway patrol shall provide ongoing electronic updates to 87
criminal history background checks of those persons 88
previously submitted, both those who have an active 89
certificate and those who do not have an active certificate, 90
by the department of elementary and secondary education. 91
This shall fulfill the annual check against the criminal 92
history records in the central rep ository under section 93
43.530. 94
6. The school district may adopt a policy to provide 95
for reimbursement of expenses incurred by an employee for 96
state and federal criminal history information pursuant to 97
section 43.530. 98
7. If, as a result of th e criminal history background 99
check mandated by this section, it is determined that the 100
holder of a certificate issued pursuant to section 168.021 101
has pled guilty or nolo contendere to, or been found guilty 102
of a crime or offense listed in section 168.0 71, or a 103
similar crime or offense committed in another state, the 104
United States, or any other country, regardless of 105
imposition of sentence, such information shall be reported 106
to the department of elementary and secondary education. 107
8. Any school official making a report to the 108
department of elementary and secondary education in 109
conformity with this section shall not be subject to civil 110
liability for such action. 111
9. For any teacher who is employed by a school 112
district on a substitute or part-time basis within one year 113 SB 460 5
of such teacher's retirement from a Missouri school, the 114
state of Missouri shall not require such teacher to be 115
subject to any additional background checks prior to having 116
contact with pupils. Nothing in this subsection shall be 117
construed as prohibiting or otherwise restricting a school 118
district from requiring additional background checks for 119
such teachers employed by the school district. 120
10. A criminal background check and fingerprint 121
collection conducted unde r subsections 1 to 3 of this 122
section shall be valid for at least a period of one year and 123
transferrable from one school district to another district. 124
A school district may, in its discretion, conduct a new 125
criminal background check and fingerprint col lection under 126
subsections 1 to 3 of this section for a newly hired 127
employee at the district's expense. A teacher's change in 128
type of certification shall have no effect on the 129
transferability or validity of such records. 130
11. Nothing in this secti on shall be construed to 131
alter the standards for suspension, denial, or revocation of 132
a certificate issued pursuant to this chapter. 133
12. The state board of education may promulgate rules 134
for criminal history background checks made pursuant to this 135
section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is 136
defined in section 536.010, that is created under the 137
authority delegated in this section shall become effective 138
only if it complies with and is subject to all of the 139
provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 140
536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and 141
if any of the powers vested with the general assembly 142
pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective 143
date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subseque ntly 144
held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking 145 SB 460 6
authority and any rule proposed or adopted after January 1, 146
2005, shall be invalid and void. 147