An Act To Require Criminal History Record Checks for All Prospective and Current Staff Members of the Office of the State Auditor
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1340
Committee: State and Local Government
Sponsors: MARTIN, CLAXTON
Amends: 5 MRSA §247

Legislative Document
No. 1340
H.P. 968
House of Representatives, March 21, 2019
An Act To Require Criminal History Record Checks for All 
Prospective and Current Staff Members of the Office of the State 
Auditor
Submitted by the Office of the State Auditor pursuant to Joint Rule 204.
Reference to the Committee on State and Local Government suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative MARTIN of Sinclair.
Cosponsored by Senator CLAXTON of Androscoggin.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §247 is enacted to read:
§247.  Criminal history background checks for State Auditor employees
1.  Definitions.  As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings.
A.  "Department" means the Department of Public Safety.
B.  "Federal Bureau of Investigation" means the United States Department of Justice, 
Federal Bureau of Investigation.
C.  "Office" means the Office of the State Auditor.
D.  "State Police" means the Department of Public Safety, Bureau of State Police.
2.  Criminal history; information about criminal records and data obtained.  
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the office shall obtain the fingerprints and, in 
print or electronic format, criminal history record information as defined in Title 16, 
section 703, subsection 3 of a person employed by or who may be offered employment by 
the office.
3.  Fingerprint-based criminal history obtained.  A person employed by the office 
shall consent to having the person's fingerprints taken pursuant to subsection 2.  A person 
who may be offered employment by the office shall consent to and have the person's 
fingerprints taken pursuant to subsection 2 prior to being employed by the office.  The 
State Police shall take or cause to be taken the fingerprints of a person who has consented 
under this subsection and shall forward the fingerprints to the State Bureau of 
Identification for the department to conduct a criminal background check on the person 
pursuant to subsection 2 including criminal history record information and national 
criminal history record information obtained from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 
The national criminal history record information obtained from the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation must include, if available, other state and national criminal history record 
checks.  The department shall forward a report of all information obtained pursuant to 
this subsection to the office. The fee charged to the office by the State Police must be 
consistent with the fee charged to executive branch agencies receiving similar services. 
Except for the portion of the payment that constitutes the processing fee charged by the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation, all money received by the State Police under this 
subsection must be paid to the Treasurer of State, who shall apply the money to the 
expenses of administration of this section by the department.
4.  Reliance on criminal history record information.  The office may rely on the 
information from the department under subsection 3 for 24 months after receiving the 
information.
5.  Updates to information.  The office may request a subsequent criminal 
background check under subsection 3 on an employee or a person who may be offered 
employment by the office as the office determines appropriate, including receiving 
continuous notifications of updated criminal history record information if a service 
providing notifications of updated criminal history record information becomes available.
6.  Confidentiality.  Information obtained pursuant to this section is confidential and 
may not be disseminated for purposes other than as provided in subsection 7.
7.  Use of information obtained.  Criminal history record and fingerprint 
information obtained pursuant to this section may be used by the office to screen an 
employee and a person who may be offered employment by the office for employment 
purposes.  The subject of any criminal background check search under subsection 3 may 
contest any negative decision made by the office based upon the information received 
pursuant to the criminal background check.
8.  Person's access to information obtained.  A person subject to a criminal 
background check pursuant to subsection 3 must be notified each time a criminal 
background check is performed on the person.  A person subject to a criminal background 
check under subsection 3 may inspect and review the criminal history record information 
pursuant to Title 16, section 709 and obtain federal information obtained pursuant to the 
criminal background check by following the procedures outlined in 28 Code of Federal 
Regulations, Sections 16.32 and 16.33. 
9.  Right of subject to remove fingerprints from record.  Upon request from an 
applicant for employment by the office who was fingerprinted but not hired or a former 
employee of the office, the department shall remove the applicant's or former employee's 
fingerprints from the department's records and provide written confirmation of the 
removal to the applicant or former employee.
SUMMARY
This bill requires all employees of and persons who may be offered employment by 
the Office of the State Auditor to consent to having their fingerprints taken for criminal 
background checks conducted by the Department of Public Safety, which include state 
and federal criminal history record information from the United States Department of 
Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation.  This bill allows the Office of the State Auditor 
to request subsequent criminal background checks as the office determines appropriate 
and establishes provisions relating to confidentiality and use of the information and the 
rights of the subjects of the fingerprinting and criminal background checks.