Brief Summary of Substitute Bill

Requires cities and towns, code cities, counties, and park districts to establish, by ordinance or resolution, the requirements for a federal and state background check and a background check conducted through a private organization of specified individuals who may have unsupervised access to children, vulnerable adults, and persons with developmental disabilities.
Expands the categories of individuals subject to a background check as required by the metropolitan park district.

Background:

Washington State Patrol–Background Checks.

The Washington State Patrol (WSP) Identification and Criminal History Section is the state's central repository for fingerprint-based criminal history record information. The WSP may disseminate criminal conviction records without restriction, but the dissemination of nonconviction records are subject to restrictions. A conviction record is criminal history record information relating to an incident that has led to a conviction or other disposition adverse to the subject. Nonconviction data is criminal history record information relating to an incident that has not led to a conviction or other disposition adverse to the subject, and for which proceedings are no longer actively pending.

Cities and Towns, Code Cities, Counties.

Cities and towns, code cities, and counties may require, by ordinance, a state and federal background investigation of license applicants or licensees in certain occupations. The WSP Identification and Criminal History Section must conduct the background checks, which may include a national check from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) through the submission of fingerprints. The requesting entity must pay fees as established by the WSP.

Metropolitan Park Districts.

Metropolitan park districts are required to establish, by resolution, the requirements for a record check through the WSP and the FBI, of employees, volunteers, or independent contractors who may, in the course of their work with the park district:

have unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults; or
be responsible for collecting or disbursing cash or processing credit or debit card transactions.

A background check conducted through the FBI may include a fingerprint check. The park district is required to provide a copy of the record report to the individual who is the subject of the background check and may require that person to pay costs associated with the background check. The park district may employ the individual on a conditional basis, pending the completion of the background check. In addition, the park district may waive the background check requirement if the individual had a background check completed within the past 12 months.

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Summary of Substitute Bill:

Cities and Towns, Code Cities, Counties.

Cities and towns, code cities, and counties must establish, by ordinance, the requirements for a federal and state background investigation, and a background investigation conducted through a private entity, of employees, applicants for employment, volunteers, vendors, and independent contractors, who in the course of their work or volunteer activity, may have unsupervised access to:

children;
persons with developmental disabilities; and
vulnerable adults.

The WSP must conduct the state and federal background checks, which may include a national check from the FBI through the submission of fingerprints. In addition, the requesting entity must pay fees set by the WSP for these background checks.

Metropolitan Park Districts.

Park districts are required to establish, by resolution, the requirements for state and federal record checks of park district employees, applicants for employment, volunteers, vendors, and independent contractors, who in the course of their work, may:

have access to children, persons with developmental disabilities, or vulnerable adults; or
be responsible for collecting or disbursing cash or processing credit or debit card transactions.

In addition, various parts of the statute pertaining to background checks required by the park district is expanded to also apply to employees, prospective employees, and vendors. The WSP must conduct the state and federal background checks, which may include a national check from the FBI through the submission of fingerprints. In addition, for federal and state background checks, the park district must pay fees set by the WSP. A park district must pay the costs of all investigations, unless the park district's budget limits its ability to absorb those costs, in which case the park district may require the subject of the investigations to pay the costs. Fingerprinting costs may be borne by the applicant, but the park district may agree to absorb those costs or reimburse the applicant upon hire.

Substitute Bill Compared to Original Bill:

Cities and towns, code cities, counties, and metropolitan park districts are required to establish, by ordinance or resolution, the requirements for a state and federal background check and a background check conducted through a private entity of specified individuals. Park districts are required to pay the costs of all investigations, unless the park district's budget limits its ability to absorb the costs, in which case the park district may require the subject of the investigations to pay the costs. Fingerprinting costs may be borne by the applicant, but the park district may agree to absorb those costs or reimburse the applicant upon hire.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony:

(In support) In order for local governments to provide good services, good quality people are needed. These background checks help to make sure there are safe and good role models working with children, the elderly, and vulnerable adults. These background checks provide local governments with additional tools for the safety of children, vulnerable adults, and persons with disabilities. Allowing local jurisdictions to require background checks is not a new practice and over 30 state agencies can conduct these background checks. However, federal law requires that the state provide authorization for national checks. Currently, some local jurisdictions use private entities to conduct background checks, but they would like the option to obtain federal checks through fingerprinting in order to fill in gaps and have the most accurate information available, to make an informed decision about hiring. This is about getting information for prospective employees for the vetting process. It would be good to keep the option to use private entities, but with this bill, the idea would be that more jurisdictions will move away from using private entities to conduct background checks and use federal checks that are more accurate and comprehensive. In addition, this bill provides consistency in statutes between cities, counties, and park districts pertaining to authority to conduct background checks. Some jurisdictions are both a park district and part of the city, and it is helpful to have consistency

(Opposed) None.