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 21-15-102 - Positions involving direct contact with children and with mentally ill and developmentally disabled persons

(a)
(1)
(A)
When a person applies for employment with a state agency in a designated position and if the state agency intends to make an offer of employment to the applicant, the applicant 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 as part of the application process.
(B)
If the state agency intends to make an offer of employment to the applicant, the state agency within five (5) days of the decision shall:
(i)
(a)
Use the Online Criminal Background Check System to obtain the criminal history or forward the criminal history check form to the Identification Bureau of the Division of Arkansas State Police and request the bureau to review the bureau's database of criminal history.
(b)
Within three (3) days of the receipt of a request to review the database, the bureau shall notify the state agency if the database contains any criminal history records on the applicant; and
(ii)
(a)
Forward the central registry check form to the Child Maltreatment Central Registry and the Adult and Long-Term Care Facility Resident Maltreatment Central Registry for a central registry check.
(b)
The state agency shall pay any fee associated with the central registry check on behalf of the applicant.
(c)
Within seven (7) days of the receipt of a request for a central registry check, the central registry shall notify the state agency if the database contains any information naming the applicant as an offender or perpetrator of child or adult abuse.
(2)
If no criminal history or central registry records regarding the applicant are found in the database, then the state agency may make an offer of temporary employment to the applicant while the bureau completes a criminal history check and the state agency determines whether the applicant is disqualified from employment under subsection (f) of this section.
(3)
(A)
If a criminal history record regarding the applicant is found in the bureau's database, then the applicant is temporarily disqualified from employment until the state agency determines whether the applicant is disqualified from employment under subsection (f) of this section.
(B)
If the state agency determines that the applicant is not disqualified, then the state agency may continue to temporarily employ the applicant while the bureau completes a criminal history check.
(4)
If an applicant has been named as an offender or perpetrator in a true, substantiated, or founded report from the Child Maltreatment Central Registry or the Adult and Long-Term Care Facility Resident Maltreatment Central Registry, the applicant shall be immediately disqualified.
(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)
(A)
If the state agency can verify that the applicant 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.
(B)
If the state agency can verify that the selected applicant currently works for a state agency in a designated position or a designated financial or information technology position and the state agency can provide verification that a criminal history check for that position has been completed in the last five (5) years, the state agency does not need to conduct another criminal history check on the employee until the criminal history check is five (5) years old.
(c)
(1)
Upon completion of a criminal history check on an applicant, the bureau shall issue a report to the state agency.
(2)
(A)
The state agency shall determine whether the applicant is disqualified from employment under subsection (f) of this section.
(B)
If the state agency determines that an applicant is disqualified from employment, then the state agency shall deny employment to the applicant.
(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)
Before making a temporary or permanent offer of employment in a designated position, a state agency shall inform applicants that:
(1)
Continued employment is contingent upon the results of a criminal history check and a central registry check; and
(2)
The applicant 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.
(f)
Except as provided in subdivision (g)(2) of this section, no person shall be eligible for employment with a state agency in a designated position if that person 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, and 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 that constitutes 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)
Theft of public benefits, as prohibited in §
5-36-202
;
(35)
Aggravated assault upon a law enforcement officer or an employee of a correctional facility, §
5-13-211
, if a Class Y felony; or
(36)
Sexual extortion, §
5-14-113
.
(g)
(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 (f) of this section shall not be considered a conviction or a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to the offense unless the offense is also listed in subdivision (g)(2) of this section.
(2)
Because of the serious nature of the following offenses and the close relationship between the following offenses and the type of work that is to be performed by the applicant, a conviction of one (1) or more of the following offenses by an applicant shall result in permanent disqualification from employment in a designated position:
(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; or
(L)
Sexual extortion, §
5-14-113
.
Amended by Act 2023, No. 619,§ 27, eff. 8/1/2023.
Amended by Act 2023, No. 21,§ 13, eff. 8/1/2023.
Amended by Act 2017, No. 664,§ 21, eff. 8/1/2017.
Amended by Act 2017, No. 664,§ 22, eff. 8/1/2017.
Amended by Act 2017, No. 367,§ 28, eff. 8/1/2017.
Amended by Act 2017, No. 367,§ 27, eff. 8/1/2017.
Amended by Act 2013, No. 993,§ 2, eff. 8/16/2013.
Amended by Act 2013, No. 993,§ 1, eff. 8/16/2013.
Acts 1997, No. 1019, § 2; 1999, No. 1409, § 10; 2001, No. 995, § 2; 2001, No. 1553, § 34; 2003, No. 1087, § 22; 2003, No. 1380, § 1; 2003, No. 1473, § 48; 2005, No. 1422, § 1; 2007, No. 991, § 2; 2011, No. 570, § 126.