I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2851 

To provide safeguards with respect to the Federal Bureau of Investigation 

criminal background checks prepared for employment purposes, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 20, 2019 

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia (for himself, Mr. NADLER, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. 

TRONE, Mr. RUSH, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, and Mr. RASKIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide safeguards with respect to the Federal Bureau 

of Investigation criminal background checks prepared for 

employment purposes, 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 ‘‘Fairness and Accuracy 

5 in Employment Background Checks Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SAFEGUARDS FOR BACKGROUND CHECKS. 

7 The Attorney General shall establish and enforce pro8 cedures to ensure the prompt release of accurate records 


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1 and information exchanged for employment-related pur2 poses through the records system created under section 

3 534 of title 28, United States Code. 

4 SEC. 3. REQUIRED PROCEDURES. 

5 The procedures established under section 2 shall in6 clude the following: 

7 (1) INACCURATE RECORD OR INFORMATION.—If 

8 the Attorney General determines that a record or in9 formation is inaccurate, the Attorney General shall 

10 promptly correct that record or information or, if 

11 appropriate, promptly make any changes or deletions 

12 to that record or information. 

13 (2) INCOMPLETE RECORD OR INFORMATION.— 

14 (A) If the Attorney General determines 

15 that a record or information is incomplete or 

16 cannot be verified, the Attorney General shall 

17 attempt to complete or verify the record or in18 formation, and if the Attorney General is un19 able to do so, the Attorney General may 

20 promptly make any changes or deletions to the 

21 record or information. 

22 (B) For the purposes of this paragraph, an 

23 incomplete record or information includes a 

24 record or information that indicates there was 


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1 an arrest and does not include the disposition 

2 of that arrest. 

3 (C) If the record or information is an in4 complete record or information described in 

5 subparagraph (B), the Attorney General shall, 

6 not later than 10 days after the requesting enti7 ty requests the exchange and before the ex8 change is made, obtain the disposition (if any) 

9 of the arrest. 

10 (3) NOTIFICATION OF REPORTING JURISDIC11 TION.—The Attorney General shall notify each ap12 propriate reporting jurisdiction of any action taken 

13 under paragraph (1) or (2). 

14 (4) OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW RECORDS OR IN15 FORMATION BY APPLICANT.—In connection with an 

16 exchange of such a record or information, the Attor17 ney General shall— 

18 (A) obtain the consent of the applicant to 

19 exchange the record or information with the re20 questing entity; 

21 (B) at the time of consent, notify the ap22 plicant that the applicant can obtain a copy of 

23 the record or information; 

24 (C) provide to the applicant an opportunity 

25 to obtain a copy of the record or information 


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1 upon request and to challenge the accuracy and 

2 completeness of that record or information; 

3 (D) promptly notify the requesting entity 

4 of any such challenge; 

5 (E) not later than 30 days after the chal6 lenge is made, complete an investigation of the 

7 challenge; 

8 (F) provide to the applicant the specific 

9 findings and results of that investigation; 

10 (G) promptly make any changes or dele11 tions to the records or information required as 

12 a result of the challenge; and 

13 (H) report those changes to the requesting 

14 entity. 

15 (5) CERTAIN EXCHANGES PROHIBITED.—An ex16 change shall not include any record or information— 

17 (A) about an arrest more than one-year-old 

18 as of the date of the request for the exchange, 

19 that does not also include a disposition (if any) 

20 of that arrest; 

21 (B) relating to an adult or juvenile non-se22 rious offense of the sort described in section 

23 20.32(b) of title 28, Code of Federal Regula24 tions, as in effect on July 1, 2009; or 


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1 (C) to the extent the record or information 

2 is not clearly an arrest or a disposition of an 

3 arrest. 

4 SEC. 4. FEES. 

5 The Attorney General may collect reasonable fees for 

6 all exchanges of records or information for employment7 related purposes through the records system created under 

8 section 534 of title 28, United States Code, to defray the 

9 costs associated with exchanges for those purposes, includ10 ing any costs associated with the investigation of inac11 curate or incomplete records or information. 

12 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS ON REASONABLE PROCEDURES. 

13 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

14 of this Act, the Attorney General shall issue regulations 

15 to carry out this Act. 

16 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORTS ON PROCEDURES. 

17 For each of the first 3 years beginning after the date 

18 of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall sub19 mit an annual report to Congress that includes— 

20 (1) the number of exchanges of records or in21 formation for employment-related purposes made 

22 with entities in each State through the records sys23 tem created under section 534 of title 28, United 

24 States Code; 


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1 (2) appropriate statistical information to deter2 mine whether the exchange of records or information 

3 about arrests that did not result in convictions is af4 fecting the employment opportunities of employees 

5 to whom those records or information pertain; 

6 (3) any prolonged failure of a reporting juris7 diction to comply with a request by the Attorney 

8 General for information about dispositions of ar9 rests; 

10 (4) the percent of missing arrest dispositions lo11 cated within the time limit required by this Act; and 

12 (5) the numbers of successful and unsuccessful 

13 challenges to the accuracy and completeness of 

14 records or information, by the State where the 

15 records and information originated. 

16 SEC. 7. REPORT ON STATUTORY AND REGULATORY RE17 STRICTIONS AND DISQUALIFICATIONS BASED 

18 ON CRIMINAL RECORDS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 

21 shall report to Congress on all Federal statutes, regula22 tions, and policies providing employment restrictions and 

23 disqualifications based on criminal records. 

24 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF INFORMATION.—In the re25 port, the Attorney General shall identify each occupation 


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1 or position to which such restrictions or disqualifications 

2 apply, and for each such occupation or position, include— 

3 (1) a description of the restriction or disquali4 fication; 

5 (2) the duration of the restriction or disquali6 fication; 

7 (3) an evaluation of the rationale for the re8 striction or disqualification and its continuing use9 fulness; 

10 (4) the procedures, if any, to appeal, waive or 

11 exempt the restriction or disqualification based on a 

12 showing of rehabilitation or other relevant evidence; 

13 (5) any information available about the num14 bers of individuals restricted or disqualified on the 

15 basis of a criminal record; and 

16 (6) the identity of the Federal agency with ju17 risdiction over the restriction or disqualification. 

18 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act— 

20 (1) the term ‘‘for employment-related purposes’’ 

21 includes for the purpose of screening an individual 

22 for employment or occupational licensing; 

23 (2) the term ‘‘applicant’’ means the person to 

24 whom the record or information sought to be ex25 changed pertains; 


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1 (3) the term ‘‘requesting entity’’ means the per2 son or entity seeking the exchange of records or in3 formation; 

4 (4) the term ‘‘State’’ includes the District of 

5 Columbia, Puerto Rico, and each other territory and 

6 possession of the United States; and 

7 (5) the term ‘‘reporting jurisdiction’’ includes 

8 any person or entity that provides relevant records 

9 and information to the Attorney General under sec10 tion 534 of title 28, United States Code. 

Æ 


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