Arkansas Code of 1987 (2023) › Title 21 - PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES (§§ 21-1-101 — 21-15-113) › Chapter 15 - CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS (§§ 21-15-101 — 21-15-113) › Section 21-15-103 - Deadline - Scope of check - Report - Notice - Discharge for persons in designated positions

(a)
(1)
A state agency shall ensure that any incumbent employee in a designated position has a subsequent criminal background check completed within five (5) years of the incumbent employee's initial criminal background check and every five (5) years thereafter.
(2)
A state agency shall ensure that any incumbent employee in a designated position has a subsequent central registry check completed within five (5) years of the incumbent employee's initial central registry check and every five (5) years thereafter.
(3)
In accordance with subdivisions (a)(1) and (2) of this section, each employee of a state agency in a designated position shall complete a criminal history check form and a central registry check form obtained from the state agency and shall submit the form to the state agency. The state agency shall:
(A)
(i)
Use the Online Criminal Background Check System to obtain a criminal history check or forward the criminal history check form to the Identification Bureau of the Division of Arkansas State Police.
(ii)
The state agency shall pay any fee associated with the criminal history check on behalf of the employee; and
(B)
(i)
Forward the central registry check to the Child Maltreatment Central Registry and the Adult and Long-Term Care Facility Resident Maltreatment Central Registry for a review of the registry databases.
(ii)
The state agency shall pay any fee associated with the central registry checks.
(b)
(1)
Except as provided in subdivision (b)(2) of this section, the bureau shall conduct a state criminal history check and a national criminal history check on an applicant upon receiving a criminal history check request from a state agency.
(2)
If the state agency can verify that the applicant has been employed by a state agency in a designated position within sixty (60) days before the application or has lived continuously in the State of Arkansas for the past five (5) years, the bureau shall conduct only a state criminal history check on the applicant.
(c)
(1)
Upon completion of a criminal history check on an employee, the bureau shall issue a report to the state agency.
(2)
(A)
The state agency shall determine whether the employee is disqualified from employment under subsection (g) of this section.
(B)
If the state agency determines that an employee is disqualified from employment, then the state agency shall discharge the employee.
(d)
When a national criminal history check is required under this section, the criminal history check shall conform to the applicable federal standards and shall include the taking of fingerprints.
(e)
If a waiver applicant has been named as an offender or perpetrator in a true, substantiated, or founded report from the Child Maltreatment Central Registry, the Adult and Long-Term Care Facility Resident Maltreatment Central Registry, or the Certified Nursing Assistant/Employment Clearance Registry, the state agency shall discharge the employee.
(f)
A state agency shall inform all employees in designated positions that:
(1)
Continued employment is contingent upon the results of a criminal history check and a central registry check; and
(2)
The employee has the right to obtain a copy of his or her:
(A)
Criminal history report from the bureau; and
(B)
Central registry report from the registries.
(g)
Except as provided in subdivision (h)(1) of this section, a state agency shall discharge from employment in a designated position any person who has pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to, or been found guilty of, any of the following offenses by any court in the State of Arkansas or of any similar offense by a court in another state or of any similar offense by a federal court unless the conviction was vacated or reversed:
(1)
Capital murder, as prohibited in §
5-10-101
;
(2)
Murder in the first degree and second degree, as prohibited in §§
5-10-102
and
5-10-103
;
(3)
Manslaughter, as prohibited in §
5-10-104
;
(4)
Negligent homicide, as prohibited in §
5-10-105
;
(5)
Kidnapping, as prohibited in §
5-11-102
;
(6)
False imprisonment in the first degree, as prohibited in §
5-11-103
;
(7)
Permanent detention or restraint, as prohibited in §
5-11-106
;
(8)
Robbery, as prohibited in §
5-12-102
;
(9)
Aggravated robbery, as prohibited in §
5-12-103
;
(10)
Battery in the first degree, as prohibited in §
5-13-201
;
(11)
Aggravated assault, as prohibited in §
5-13-204
;
(12)
Introduction of controlled substance into body of another person, as prohibited in §
5-13-210
;
(13)
Terroristic threatening in the first degree, as prohibited in §
5-13-301
;
(14)
Rape, as prohibited in §
5-14-103
;
(15)
Sexual indecency with a child, as prohibited in §
5-14-110
, if the offense is a felony;
(16)
Sexual assault in the first degree, second degree, third degree, or fourth degree, as prohibited in §§
5-14-124
-
5-14-127
;
(17)
Incest, as prohibited in §
5-26-202
;
(18)
Offenses against the family, as prohibited in §§
5-26-303
-
5-26-306
;
(19)
Endangering the welfare of an incompetent person in the first degree, as prohibited in §
5-27-201
;
(20)
Endangering the welfare of a minor in the first degree, as prohibited in §
5-27-205
;
(21)
Permitting abuse of a minor, as prohibited in §
5-27-221
;
(22)
Engaging children in sexually explicit conduct for use in visual or print medium, transportation of minors for prohibited sexual conduct, pandering, or possessing visual or print medium depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child, or the use of a child or consent to the use of a child in a sexual performance by producing, directing, or promoting a sexual performance by a child, as prohibited in §§
5-27-303
-
5-27-305
,
5-27-402
, and
5-27-403
;
(23)
Adult abuse constituting a felony, as prohibited in §
5-28-103
;
(24)
Theft of property, as prohibited in §
5-36-103
;
(25)
Theft by receiving, as prohibited in §
5-36-106
;
(26)
Arson, as prohibited in §
5-38-301
;
(27)
Burglary, as prohibited in §
5-39-201
;
(28)
Felony violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, §
5-64-101
et seq., as prohibited in the former §
5-64-401
and §§
5-64-419
-
5-64-442
;
(29)
Promotion of prostitution in the first degree, as prohibited in §
5-70-104
;
(30)
Stalking, as prohibited in §
5-71-229
;
(31)
Possession or use of child sexual abuse material, as prohibited in §
5-27-603
;
(32)
Computer exploitation of a child in the first degree, as prohibited in §
5-27-605
;
(33)
Criminal attempt, criminal complicity, criminal solicitation, or criminal conspiracy, as prohibited in §§
5-3-201
,
5-3-202
,
5-3-301
, and
5-3-401
, to commit any of the offenses listed in this subsection;
(34)
Aggravated assault upon a law enforcement officer or an employee of a correctional facility, §
5-13-211
, if a Class Y felony; or
(35)
Sexual extortion, §
5-14-113
.
(h)
(1)
For purposes of this section, an expunged record of a conviction or plea of guilty or nolo contendere to an offense listed in subsection (g) of this section shall not be considered a conviction or plea of guilty or nolo contendere to the offense unless the offense is also listed in subdivision (h)(2) of this section.
(2)
Because of the serious nature of the offenses and the close relationship to the type of work that is to be performed, the following offenses shall result in permanent disqualification:
(A)
Capital murder, as prohibited in §
5-10-101
;
(B)
Murder in the first degree and murder in the second degree, as prohibited in §§
5-10-102
and
5-10-103
;
(C)
Kidnapping, as prohibited in §
5-11-102
;
(D)
Rape, as prohibited in §
5-14-103
;
(E)
Sexual assault in the first degree and second degree, as prohibited in §§
5-14-124
and
5-14-125
;
(F)
Endangering the welfare of a minor in the first degree and endangering the welfare of a minor in the second degree, as prohibited in §§
5-27-205
and
5-27-206
;
(G)
Incest, as prohibited in §
5-26-202
;
(H)
Arson, as prohibited in §
5-38-301
;
(I)
Endangering the welfare of an incompetent person in the first degree, as prohibited in §
5-27-201
;
(J)
Adult abuse that constitutes a felony, as prohibited in §
5-28-103
;
(K)
Aggravated assault upon a law enforcement officer or an employee of a correctional facility, §
5-13-211
, if a Class Y felony; and
(L)
Sexual extortion, §
5-14-113
.
Amended by Act 2023, No. 619,§ 28, eff. 8/1/2023.
Amended by Act 2023, No. 21,§ 14, eff. 8/1/2023.
Amended by Act 2017, No. 664,§ 24, eff. 8/1/2017.
Amended by Act 2017, No. 664,§ 23, eff. 8/1/2017.
Amended by Act 2017, No. 367,§ 30, eff. 8/1/2017.
Amended by Act 2017, No. 367,§ 29, eff. 8/1/2017.
Acts 1997, No. 1019, § 3; 1999, No. 1409, §§ 11-13; 2001, No. 995, § 3; 2003, No. 482, § 1; 2003, No. 1087, § 23; 2003, No. 1379, § 1; 2003, No. 1473, § 49; 2005, No. 1422, § 1; 2005, No. 1923, § 8; 2007, No. 827, § 180; 2007, No. 991, § 3; 2011, No. 570, § 127.