II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 705 

To amend the National Child Protection Act of 1993 to establish a national 

criminal history background check system and criminal history review 

program for certain individuals who, related to their employment, have 

access to children, the elderly, or individuals with disabilities, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 23, 2017 

Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. BLUNT, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the National Child Protection Act of 1993 to 

establish a national criminal history background check 

system and criminal history review program for certain 

individuals who, related to their employment, have access 

to children, the elderly, or individuals with disabilities, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Protection Im5 provements Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND 

2 CHECK AND CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW 

3 PROGRAM. 

4 The National Child Protection Act of 1993 (42 

5 U.S.C. 5119 et seq.) is amended— 

6 (1) in section 3 (42 U.S.C. 5119a)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘provider’’ each place it 

8 appears and inserting ‘‘covered individual’’; 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘provider’s’’ each place it 

10 appears and inserting ‘‘covered individual’s’’; 

11 (C) by amending subsection (a)(3) to read 

12 as follows: 

13 ‘‘(3)(A) The Attorney General shall establish a 

14 program, in accordance with this section, to provide 

15 qualified entities located in States that do not have 

16 in effect procedures described in paragraph (1), or 

17 qualified entities located in States that do not pro18 hibit the use of the program established under this 

19 paragraph, with access to national criminal history 

20 background checks on, and criminal history reviews 

21 of, covered individuals. 

22 ‘‘(B) A qualified entity described in subpara23 graph (A) may submit to the appropriate designated 

24 entity a request for a national criminal history back25 ground check on, and a criminal history review of, 

26 a covered individual. Qualified entities making a reVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Mar 25, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S705.IS S705

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1 quest under this paragraph shall comply with the 

2 guidelines set forth in subsection (b), and with any 

3 additional applicable procedures set forth by the At4 torney General or by the State in which the entity 

5 is located.’’; 

6 (D) in subsection (b)— 

7 (i) in paragraph (1)(E), by striking 

8 ‘‘unsupervised’’; 

9 (ii) in paragraph (2)— 

10 (I) by redesignating subpara11 graphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and 

12 (ii), respectively; 

13 (II) in the matter preceding 

14 clause (i), as so redesignated, by 

15 striking ‘‘that each covered individual 

16 who is the subject of a background 

17 check’’ and inserting ‘‘(A) that each 

18 covered individual who is the subject 

19 of a background check conducted pur20 suant to the procedures established 

21 pursuant to subsection (a)(1)’’; and 

22 (III) by adding at the end the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(B) that each covered individual who is 

25 the subject of a national criminal history backVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Mar 25, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S705.IS S705

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1 ground check and criminal history review con2 ducted pursuant to the procedures established 

3 pursuant to subsection (a)(3) is entitled to chal4 lenge the accuracy and completeness of any in5 formation in the criminal history record of the 

6 individual by contacting the Federal Bureau of 

7 Investigation under the procedure set forth in 

8 section 16.34 of title 28, Code of Federal Regu9 lations, or any successor thereto.’’; 

10 (iii) in paragraph (3), insert after 

11 ‘‘authorized agency’’ the following: ‘‘or des12 ignated entity, as applicable,’’; and 

13 (iv) in paragraph (4), insert after 

14 ‘‘authorized agency’’ the following: ‘‘or des15 ignated entity, as applicable,’’; 

16 (E) in subsection (d), insert after ‘‘officer 

17 or employee thereof,’’ the following: ‘‘, nor shall 

18 any designated entity nor any officer or em19 ployee thereof,’’; 

20 (F) by amending subsection (e) to read as 

21 follows: 

22 ‘‘(e) FEES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) STATE PROGRAM.—In the case of a back24 ground check conducted pursuant to a State require25 ment adopted after December 20, 1993, conducted 


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1 with fingerprints on a covered individual, the fees 

2 collected by authorized State agencies and the Fed3 eral Bureau of Investigation may not exceed eight4 een dollars, respectively, or the actual cost, which5 ever is less, of the background check conducted with 

6 fingerprints. 

7 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL PROGRAM.—In the case of a na8 tional criminal history background check and crimi9 nal history review conducted pursuant to the proce10 dures established pursuant to subsection (a)(3), the 

11 fees collected by a designated entity shall be set at 

12 a level that will ensure the recovery of the full costs 

13 of providing all such services. The designated entity 

14 shall remit the appropriate portion of such fee to the 

15 Attorney General, which amount is in accordance 

16 with the amount published in the Federal Register 

17 to be collected for the provision of a criminal history 

18 background check by the Federal Bureau of Inves19 tigation. 

20 ‘‘(3) ENSURING FEES DO NOT DISCOURAGE

21 VOLUNTEERS.—A fee system under this subsection 

22 shall be established in a manner that ensures that 

23 fees to qualified entities for background checks do 

24 not discourage volunteers from participating in proVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Mar 25, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S705.IS S705

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1 grams to care for children, the elderly, or individuals 

2 with disabilities.’’; and 

3 (G) by inserting after subsection (e) the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(f) NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND

6 CHECK AND CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW PROGRAM.— 

7 ‘‘(1) NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY BACK8 GROUND CHECK.—Upon a designated entity receiv9 ing notice of a request submitted by a qualified enti10 ty pursuant to subsection (a)(3), the designated en11 tity shall forward the request to the Attorney Gen12 eral, who shall, acting through the Director of the 

13 Federal Bureau of Investigation, complete a finger14 print-based check of the national criminal history 

15 background check system, and provide the informa16 tion received in response to such national criminal 

17 history background check to the appropriate des18 ignated entity. The designated entity may, upon re19 quest from a qualified entity, complete a check of a 

20 State criminal history database. 

21 ‘‘(2) CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW.— 

22 ‘‘(A) DESIGNATED ENTITIES.—The Attor23 ney General shall designate, and enter into an 

24 agreement with, one or more entities to make 

25 determinations described in paragraph (2). The 


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1 Attorney General may not designate and enter 

2 into an agreement with a Federal agency under 

3 this subparagraph. 

4 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATIONS.—A designated en5 tity shall, upon the receipt of the information 

6 described in paragraph (1), make a determina7 tion of fitness described in subsection (b)(4), 

8 using the criteria described in subparagraph 

9 (C). 

10 ‘‘(C) CRIMINAL HISTORY REVIEW CRI11 TERIA.—The Attorney General shall, by rule, 

12 establish the criteria for use by designated enti13 ties in making a determination of fitness de14 scribed in subsection (b)(4). Such criteria shall 

15 be based on the criteria established pursuant to 

16 section 108(a)(3)(G)(i) of the Prosecutorial 

17 Remedies and Other Tools to end the Exploi18 tation of Children Today Act of 2003 (42 

19 U.S.C. 5119a note).’’; and 

20 (2) in section 5 (42 U.S.C. 5119c)— 

21 (A) by amending paragraph (9) to read as 

22 follows: 

23 ‘‘(9) the term ‘covered individual’ means an in24 dividual— 


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1 ‘‘(A) who has, seeks to have, or may have 

2 access to children, the elderly, or individuals 

3 with disabilities, served by a qualified entity; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(B) who— 

6 ‘‘(i) is employed by or volunteers with, 

7 or seeks to be employed by or volunteer 

8 with, a qualified entity; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) owns or operates, or seeks to 

10 own or operate, a qualified entity.’’; 

11 (B) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

12 at the end; 

13 (C) in paragraph (11), by striking the pe14 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (D) by inserting after paragraph (11) the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(12) the term ‘designated entity’ means an en18 tity designated by the Attorney General under sec19 tion 3(f)(2)(A).’’. 

20 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

21 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

22 be fully implemented by not later than 1 year after the 

23 date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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