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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 4, 2013 10:42 AM |
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| From: | Representative Matthew E. Baker |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Criminal Background Checks - Former HB 45 |
| In the near future I plan to re-introduce former HB 45, which passed the House unanimously during the 2005-06 session (194-0) as HB 564. This legislation would give colleges and universities the authority to require criminal history background information and establish self-disclosure requirements for full-time faculty and staff members. This authority would be discretionary: colleges and universities would not be mandated to set such requirements. This legislation was drafted in response to the situation involving a former professor at Penn State University who did not disclose to university officials that he had been convicted of a triple murder and was on parole from the state of Texas. The bill would allow colleges and universities to establish policies requiring final candidates for full-time faculty or staff positions to undergo criminal history background checks. At a minimum, such checks would seek information on felony convictions or other crimes involving sexual offenses or misappropriation of funds. The school could then decide whether or not to hire a final candidate based on the result of the background check. This initiative would also allow colleges and universities to require persons offered full-time employment to self-disclose criminal history information on a form provided by the school. Such self-disclosure would have to include federal and state felony convictions as well as any convictions relating to sexual offenses or misappropriation of funds. Failure to self-disclose or providing false information could result in termination. A college or university which decides to conduct background checks would be required to develop a written policy regarding criminal history record information and hiring practices for dissemination to all faculty and staff members and final candidates for employment. In addition, a school would be required to state whether or not it has established such a policy in its informational materials and other literature made available to prospective students. I have attached a copy of the legislation to this memo. FORMER COSPONSORS: BAKER, BARRAR, CAUSER, CONKLIN, DELUCA, FLECK, GABLER, GEIST, GEORGE, GINGRICH, HARRIS, HESS, KAUFFMAN, MILLER, ONEILL, PYLE, REICHLEY, SONNEY, STERN, SWANGER, VULAKOVICH, WATSON |
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| View Attachment | ||
Introduced as HB274