SENATE, No. 2172

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

INTRODUCED JUNE 12, 1997

 

 

By Senator PALAIA

 

 

An Act concerning criminal history record checks and amending P.L.1986, c.116.

 

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

    1. Section 2 of P.L.1986, c.116 (C.18A:6-7.2) is amended to read as follows:

    2. An applicant for employment or service in any of the positions covered by this act shall submit to the Commissioner of Education his or her name, address and fingerprints taken on standard fingerprint cards by a State or municipal law enforcement agency. The Commissioner of Education is hereby authorized to exchange fingerprint data with and receive criminal history record information from the federal Bureau of Investigation and the Division of State Police for use in making the determinations required by this act. No criminal history record check shall be performed pursuant to this act unless the applicant shall have furnished his or her written consent to such a check. The [applicant] employer shall bear the cost for the criminal history record check.

    The criminal history record check shall be completed no later than three months following the submission of the name, address and fingerprints of the applicant to the commissioner.

(cf: P.L.1986, c.116, s.2)

 

    2. This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    This bill mandates that criminal history record checks which are required of applicants for positions in schools or facilities under the supervision of the Department of Education and boards of education must be completed no later than three months following submission of the name, address and fingerprints of the applicant to the Commissioner of Education. The bill also requires the cost of the record check to be paid by the employer rather than the applicant.

 

 

                             

Requires criminal history record checks of education employees to be completed in three months with costs paid by employer.