Full Text of SB3375 96th General Assembly
SB3375 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
|
|
|
96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010 SB3375
Introduced 2/10/2010, by Sen. William R. Haine SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
|
105 ILCS 5/10-21.9 |
from Ch. 122, par. 10-21.9 |
|
Amends the School Code. Provides that if a criminal background check reveals certain convictions, then the person is ineligible for employment and shall be dismissed. Effective immediately.
|
| |
|
|
A BILL FOR
|
|
|
|
|
SB3375 |
|
LRB096 17733 MJR 33098 b |
|
| 1 |
| AN ACT concerning schools.
| 2 |
| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 |
| represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 |
| Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | 5 |
| 10-21.9 as follows:
| 6 |
| (105 ILCS 5/10-21.9) (from Ch. 122, par. 10-21.9)
| 7 |
| Sec. 10-21.9. Criminal history records checks and checks of | 8 |
| the Statewide Sex Offender Database and Statewide Child | 9 |
| Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Database.
| 10 |
| (a) Certified and noncertified applicants for employment | 11 |
| with a school
district, except school bus driver applicants, | 12 |
| are required as a condition
of employment to authorize a | 13 |
| fingerprint-based criminal history records check to determine | 14 |
| if such applicants have been convicted of any of
the enumerated | 15 |
| criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) of this Section or
| 16 |
| have been convicted, within 7 years of the application for | 17 |
| employment with
the
school district, of any other felony under | 18 |
| the laws of this State or of any
offense committed or attempted | 19 |
| in any other state or against the laws of
the United States | 20 |
| that, if committed or attempted in this State, would
have been | 21 |
| punishable as a felony under the laws of this State , and if the | 22 |
| person has been so convicted, then the person shall be | 23 |
| ineligible for employment in a school district and shall be |
|
|
|
SB3375 |
- 2 - |
LRB096 17733 MJR 33098 b |
|
| 1 |
| dismissed when evidence of the existence of the conviction is | 2 |
| obtained by school officials .
Authorization for
the check shall | 3 |
| be furnished by the applicant to
the school district, except | 4 |
| that if the applicant is a substitute teacher
seeking | 5 |
| employment in more than one school district, a teacher seeking
| 6 |
| concurrent part-time employment positions with more than one | 7 |
| school
district (as a reading specialist, special education | 8 |
| teacher or otherwise),
or an educational support personnel | 9 |
| employee seeking employment positions
with more than one | 10 |
| district, any such district may require the applicant to
| 11 |
| furnish authorization for
the check to the regional | 12 |
| superintendent
of the educational service region in which are | 13 |
| located the school districts
in which the applicant is seeking | 14 |
| employment as a substitute or concurrent
part-time teacher or | 15 |
| concurrent educational support personnel employee.
Upon | 16 |
| receipt of this authorization, the school district or the | 17 |
| appropriate
regional superintendent, as the case may be, shall | 18 |
| submit the applicant's
name, sex, race, date of birth, social | 19 |
| security number, fingerprint images, and other identifiers, as | 20 |
| prescribed by the Department
of State Police, to the | 21 |
| Department. The regional
superintendent submitting the | 22 |
| requisite information to the Department of
State Police shall | 23 |
| promptly notify the school districts in which the
applicant is | 24 |
| seeking employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time
| 25 |
| teacher or concurrent educational support personnel employee | 26 |
| that
the
check of the applicant has been requested. The |
|
|
|
SB3375 |
- 3 - |
LRB096 17733 MJR 33098 b |
|
| 1 |
| Department of State Police and the Federal Bureau of | 2 |
| Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint-based | 3 |
| criminal history records check, records of convictions, until | 4 |
| expunged, to the president of the school board for the school | 5 |
| district that requested the check, or to the regional | 6 |
| superintendent who requested the check.
The
Department shall | 7 |
| charge
the school district
or the appropriate regional | 8 |
| superintendent a fee for
conducting
such check, which fee shall | 9 |
| be deposited in the State
Police Services Fund and shall not | 10 |
| exceed the cost of
the inquiry; and the
applicant shall not be | 11 |
| charged a fee for
such check by the school
district or by the | 12 |
| regional superintendent. Subject to appropriations for these | 13 |
| purposes, the State Superintendent of Education shall | 14 |
| reimburse school districts and regional superintendents for | 15 |
| fees paid to obtain criminal history records checks under this | 16 |
| Section.
| 17 |
| (a-5) The school district or regional superintendent shall | 18 |
| further perform a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database, | 19 |
| as authorized by the Sex Offender Community Notification Law, | 20 |
| for each applicant.
| 21 |
| (a-6) The school district or regional superintendent shall | 22 |
| further perform a check of the Statewide Child Murderer and | 23 |
| Violent Offender Against Youth Database, as authorized by the | 24 |
| Child Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Community | 25 |
| Notification Law, for each applicant.
| 26 |
| (b)
Any information
concerning the record of convictions |
|
|
|
SB3375 |
- 4 - |
LRB096 17733 MJR 33098 b |
|
| 1 |
| obtained by the president of the
school board or the regional | 2 |
| superintendent shall be confidential and may
only be | 3 |
| transmitted to the superintendent of the school district or his
| 4 |
| designee, the appropriate regional superintendent if
the check | 5 |
| was
requested by the school district, the presidents of the | 6 |
| appropriate school
boards if
the check was requested from the | 7 |
| Department of State
Police by the regional superintendent, the | 8 |
| State Superintendent of
Education, the State Teacher | 9 |
| Certification Board or any other person
necessary to the | 10 |
| decision of hiring the applicant for employment. A copy
of the | 11 |
| record of convictions obtained from the Department of State | 12 |
| Police
shall be provided to the applicant for employment. Upon | 13 |
| the check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database, the school | 14 |
| district or regional superintendent shall notify an applicant | 15 |
| as to whether or not the applicant has been identified in the | 16 |
| Database as a sex offender. If a check of
an applicant for | 17 |
| employment as a substitute or concurrent part-time teacher
or | 18 |
| concurrent educational support personnel employee in more than | 19 |
| one
school district was requested by the regional | 20 |
| superintendent, and the
Department of State Police upon a check | 21 |
| ascertains that the applicant
has not been convicted of any of | 22 |
| the enumerated criminal or drug offenses
in subsection (c)
or | 23 |
| has not been convicted, within 7 years of the
application for
| 24 |
| employment with the
school district, of any other felony under | 25 |
| the laws of this State or of any
offense committed or attempted | 26 |
| in any other state or against the laws of
the United States |
|
|
|
SB3375 |
- 5 - |
LRB096 17733 MJR 33098 b |
|
| 1 |
| that, if committed or attempted in this State, would
have been | 2 |
| punishable as a felony under the laws of this State
and so | 3 |
| notifies the regional
superintendent and if the regional | 4 |
| superintendent upon a check ascertains that the applicant has | 5 |
| not been identified in the Sex Offender Database as a sex | 6 |
| offender, then the
regional superintendent shall issue to the | 7 |
| applicant a certificate
evidencing that as of the date | 8 |
| specified by the Department of State Police
the applicant has | 9 |
| not been convicted of any of the enumerated criminal or
drug | 10 |
| offenses in subsection (c)
or has not been
convicted, within 7 | 11 |
| years of the application for employment with the
school | 12 |
| district, of any other felony under the laws of this State or | 13 |
| of any
offense committed or attempted in any other state or | 14 |
| against the laws of
the United States that, if committed or | 15 |
| attempted in this State, would
have been punishable as a felony | 16 |
| under the laws of this State and evidencing that as of the date | 17 |
| that the regional superintendent conducted a check of the | 18 |
| Statewide Sex Offender Database, the applicant has not been | 19 |
| identified in the Database as a sex offender. The school
board | 20 |
| of
any
school district
may rely on the
certificate issued by | 21 |
| any regional superintendent to that substitute teacher, | 22 |
| concurrent part-time teacher, or concurrent educational | 23 |
| support personnel employee or may
initiate its own criminal | 24 |
| history records check of the applicant through the Department | 25 |
| of
State Police and its own check of the Statewide Sex Offender | 26 |
| Database as provided in subsection (a). Any person who releases |
|
|
|
SB3375 |
- 6 - |
LRB096 17733 MJR 33098 b |
|
| 1 |
| any
confidential information concerning any criminal | 2 |
| convictions of an
applicant for employment shall be guilty of a | 3 |
| Class A misdemeanor, unless
the release of such information is | 4 |
| authorized by this Section.
| 5 |
| (c) No school board shall knowingly employ a person who has | 6 |
| been
convicted of any offense that would subject him or her to | 7 |
| certification suspension or revocation pursuant to Section | 8 |
| 21-23a of this Code.
Further, no school board shall knowingly | 9 |
| employ a person who has been found
to be the perpetrator of | 10 |
| sexual or physical abuse of any minor under 18 years
of age | 11 |
| pursuant to proceedings under Article II of the Juvenile Court | 12 |
| Act of
1987.
| 13 |
| (d) No school board shall knowingly employ a person for | 14 |
| whom a criminal
history records check and a Statewide Sex | 15 |
| Offender Database check has not been initiated.
| 16 |
| (e) Upon receipt of the record of a conviction of or a | 17 |
| finding of child
abuse by a holder of any
certificate issued | 18 |
| pursuant to Article 21 or Section 34-8.1 or 34-83 of the
School | 19 |
| Code, the
State Superintendent of Education may initiate | 20 |
| certificate suspension
and revocation proceedings as | 21 |
| authorized by law.
| 22 |
| (e-5) The superintendent of the employing school board | 23 |
| shall, in writing, notify the State Superintendent of Education | 24 |
| and the applicable regional superintendent of schools of any | 25 |
| certificate holder whom he or she has reasonable cause to | 26 |
| believe has committed an intentional act of abuse or neglect |
|
|
|
SB3375 |
- 7 - |
LRB096 17733 MJR 33098 b |
|
| 1 |
| with the result of making a child an abused child or a | 2 |
| neglected child, as defined in Section 3 of the Abused and | 3 |
| Neglected Child Reporting Act, and that act resulted in the | 4 |
| certificate holder's dismissal or resignation from the school | 5 |
| district. This notification must be submitted within 30 days | 6 |
| after the dismissal or resignation. The certificate holder must | 7 |
| also be contemporaneously sent a copy of the notice by the | 8 |
| superintendent. All correspondence, documentation, and other | 9 |
| information so received by the regional superintendent of | 10 |
| schools, the State Superintendent of Education, the State Board | 11 |
| of Education, or the State Teacher Certification Board under | 12 |
| this subsection (e-5) is confidential and must not be disclosed | 13 |
| to third parties, except (i) as necessary for the State | 14 |
| Superintendent of Education or his or her designee to | 15 |
| investigate and prosecute pursuant to Article 21 of this Code, | 16 |
| (ii) pursuant to a court order, (iii) for disclosure to the | 17 |
| certificate holder or his or her representative, or (iv) as | 18 |
| otherwise provided in this Article and provided that any such | 19 |
| information admitted into evidence in a hearing is exempt from | 20 |
| this confidentiality and non-disclosure requirement. Except | 21 |
| for an act of willful or wanton misconduct, any superintendent | 22 |
| who provides notification as required in this subsection (e-5) | 23 |
| shall have immunity from any liability, whether civil or | 24 |
| criminal or that otherwise might result by reason of such | 25 |
| action. | 26 |
| (f) After January 1, 1990 the provisions of this Section |
|
|
|
SB3375 |
- 8 - |
LRB096 17733 MJR 33098 b |
|
| 1 |
| shall apply
to all employees of persons or firms holding | 2 |
| contracts with any school
district including, but not limited | 3 |
| to, food service workers, school bus
drivers and other | 4 |
| transportation employees, who have direct, daily contact
with | 5 |
| the pupils of any school in such district. For purposes of | 6 |
| criminal
history records checks and checks of the Statewide Sex | 7 |
| Offender Database on employees of persons or firms holding
| 8 |
| contracts with more than one school district and assigned to | 9 |
| more than one
school district, the regional superintendent of | 10 |
| the educational service
region in which the contracting school | 11 |
| districts are located may, at the
request of any such school | 12 |
| district, be responsible for receiving the
authorization for
a | 13 |
| criminal history records check prepared by each such employee | 14 |
| and
submitting the same to the Department of State Police and | 15 |
| for conducting a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database | 16 |
| for each employee. Any information
concerning the record of | 17 |
| conviction and identification as a sex offender of any such | 18 |
| employee obtained by the
regional superintendent shall be | 19 |
| promptly reported to the president of the
appropriate school | 20 |
| board or school boards.
| 21 |
| (Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 96-431, eff. 8-13-09.)
| 22 |
| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 23 |
| becoming law.
|
|