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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 59th Legislature (202 4)
HOUSE BILL 3771 By: Cantrell
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to schools; amending 70 O.S. 2021,
Section 5-142, which relates to cri minal history
record checks for school employ ment; exempting
certain employees from fingerprint requirements;
providing certain persons an exception from obtaining
additional criminal history record check; deleting
criminal history record check process for substitute
teachers; providing an effecti ve date; and declaring
an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 5 -142, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 5-142. A. Except as otherwise provided for in
subsection F of this section, for purposes of employment, a board of
education may request in writing to the State Board of Education
that a national criminal history record check be conducted of any
employee of the school and shall request such inform ation for any
person seeking employment with the school; provided that a board of
education shall not be required to obtain a new criminal h istory
record check for an individual who has obtained certification from
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the State Department of Education within t he previous twelve (12)
months. The State Department of Education shall not be required to
obtain fingerprints of an employee or prospective employee of the
Department if that person's fingerprints are a lready on file for
other state education certification or state education employment
processes. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) shall
obtain fingerprints of the employee or prospective employee and
require that the person pay a search fee not to exceed Fifty Dollars
($50.00) or the cost o f the search, whichever is the lesser amount .
The fee shall be deposited in the OSBI Revolving Fund. School
districts may reimburse employees for the cost of the search. The
State Board of Education shal l contact the Oklahoma State Bureau of
Investigation for any national criminal history record check of the
person within fourteen (14) working days of receiving a written
request from the board of education.
B. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation shall p rovide the
national criminal history record c heck requested by the State Board
of Education within fourteen (14) working days from the receipt of
the request. The Bureau may contact the Federal Bureau of
Investigation to obtain the information requested.
C. The State Board of Education shall provid e the information
received from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to the
board of education within fourteen (14) days from the receipt of the
information. The State Board of Education shall provide any follow-
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up information received from the OSBI concerning a person for which
a national criminal history record check was requested to the
employing board of education.
D. For the purpose of this sectio n:
1. "Board of education" includes both public and p rivate boards
of education within or outside this state;
2. "Employing agency" means a political subdivision or law
enforcement agency in this state;
3. "Law enforcement officer " means a peace or poli ce officer
who is certified by the Council on Law Enfo rcement Education and
Training;
4. "National criminal history record check " means a national
criminal history record check as defined in Section 150.9 of Title
74 of the Oklahoma Statutes; and
5. "Prospective employee" means an individual who has receive d
an offer of temporary employment from a sch ool district pending the
results of the national criminal history record check.
E. Each public board of education within this state shall
promulgate a statement regarding the felony record search policy for
that school district. The policy may permit tem porary employment of
prospective employees for a maximum of sixty (60) days pending
receipt of results of national criminal history record check
requests. The temporary employment of the prospective employee
shall terminate after sixty (60) days unless th e school district
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receives the results of the national criminal history record check.
The sixty-day temporary employment period shall begin on the first
day the prospective employee reports for duty at the empl oying
school district. Prospective employees shall be notified of the
requirement, the fee and the reimbursement policy when first
interviewed concerning employment. The school district 's
reimbursement policy shall provide, at a minimum, that employees
shall be promptly reimbursed in full for the f ee if employed by the
district at the time the national criminal history record check
request is made unless the person was employed pending receipt of
results as set forth above.
F. 1. Any person who has been employed as a full-time teacher
by a school district in this state and applies for employment as a
full-time teacher in another school district in this state may not
be required to have a obtained an Oklahoma criminal history record
check from the OSBI or national criminal history record check for
certification, as required by Section 6 -190 of this title, or for
employment with a school, as required by this section , in the
immediately preceding five (5) years shall be exempt from any
additional Oklahoma criminal history record check from the OSBI or
national criminal history record check if the teacher produces a
copy of a national criminal history record check completed within
the preceding five (5) years and a letter from the school district
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in which the teacher was employed stating the teacher left in good
standing required for those same purposes.
2. For any person applying for employment as a substitute
teacher, a national criminal history record check shall be required
for the school year; provided, however, a board of education may
choose whether to require a national criminal history reco rd check
from a prospective substitute teacher who has been employed by the
school district in the last year. Any person applying for
employment as a substitute teacher in more than one school district
shall only be required to have one national criminal history record
check, and, upon the request of the substitute teacher, that record
check shall be sent to all other school districts in which the
substitute teacher is appl ying to teach.
3. Any person employed as a full-time teacher by a school
district in this state in the five (5) years immediately preceding
an application for employment as a substitute teacher may not be
required to have a national criminal history recor d check, if the
teacher produces a cop y of a national criminal history record check
completed within the preceding five (5) years and a letter from the
school district in which the teacher was last employed stating the
teacher left in good standing.
4. Any person employed as a substitute teac her by a school
district in this state for a m inimum of five (5) years immediately
preceding an application for employment as a full -time teacher in a
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school district in this state may not be required to have a nationa l
criminal history record check if the teacher produces a copy of a
national criminal history record check completed within the
preceding five (5) years and a letter from the school district in
which the teacher was employed as a substitute teacher stating the
teacher left in good standing.
5. Any person employed as a full-time teacher by a school
district in this state for ten (10) or more consecutive years
immediately preceding an application for employment as a substitute
teacher in the same school dist rict may not be required to have a
national criminal history record check for as lon g as the person
remains employed for consecutive years by that school district as a
substitute teacher, if the teacher left full -time employment in good
standing. If the teacher applies for employment as a sub stitute
teacher in another school district, a national criminal history
record check shall be required.
G. 1. Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, any
teacher employed by an Oklahoma school district prior to the
effective date of this act who does not have an Oklahoma criminal
history record check from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
as well as a national criminal history record check, as defined in
Section 150.9 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Stat utes, on file with his
or her employing district as required by this section shall c omplete
the criminal history record checks upon the next renewal of his or
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her Standard Teaching Certificate as required by Section 6 -154.1 of
this title or State Board of Education administrative rules
promulgated thereto.
2. Except as otherwise provid ed by this subsection, any other
person employed by an Oklahoma school district prior to the
effective date of this act who does not have an Oklahoma criminal
history record check from the Oklahoma State Bureau o f Investigation
as well as a national crimin al history record check, as defined in
Section 150.9 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes, on file with his
or her employing district as required by this section shall have
until July 1, 2022, to complete the cri minal history record checks.
3. Any teacher eligible to retire from the Teachers ' Retirement
System of Oklahoma who does not have an Oklahoma criminal history
record check from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigati on as well
as a national criminal hist ory record check, as defined in Section
150.9 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes, on file with his or her
employing district as required by this section shall complete the
criminal history record checks by the earlie r of the following
dates:
a. July 1, 2022, or
b. at the next renewal of his or her Standard Teaching
Certificate as required by Section 6 -154.1 of this
title or State Board of Education administrative rules
promulgated thereto.
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H. The provisions of this s ection shall not apply to technology
center employees hired on a part-time or temporary basis for the
instruction of adult students only.
I. The provisions of this section shall not apply to law
enforcement officers who are employed by an employing agency at the
time of application for employ ment at a public school district.
J. Nothing in this section shall be construed to impose
liability on school districts, except in negligence, for employing
prospective employees within the sixty -day temporary employm ent
window pending the results of the national criminal history record
check.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective July 1, 2024.
SECTION 3. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, hea lth or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof thi s act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
59-2-9173 EK 01/17/24