Section 16-22A-1 Short title; purpose. This chapter shall be known and cited as the Alabama Child Protection Act of 1999. Article 1 provides the procedure for conducting criminal history background information checks on all applicants for certification, public and nonpublic applicants for employment, nonpublic current employees, and current employees under review. Article 2 provides the […]
Section 16-22A-10 Confidentiality of information. (a)(1) Any criminal history background information reports received by the State Department of Education from the Department of Public Safety shall be confidential, conspicuously marked as confidential, and not further disclosed or made available for public inspection. (2) Any criminal history background information report received by a local employing board […]
Section 16-22A-11 Rules and regulations. The State Department of Education and the Department of Public Safety may adopt rules and regulations to implement the procedures and requirements of this chapter. (Act 99-361, p. 566, §11.)
Section 16-22A-12 Penalties. (a) Violations. Any person convicted of any of the following actions under this chapter shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor: (1) Violating the confidentiality of records provisions. (2) Violating lawfully adopted policies which are provided for in this chapter. (3) Knowingly, willfully, and intentionally making or transmitting a false report […]
Section 16-22A-13 Liability. An authorized employer shall not be liable in any action for damages solely for failure to conduct a criminal history background information check on an educational employee pursuant to this chapter if such failure is due to reasonable time constraints of background check backlogs, nor shall the state or political subdivision thereof, […]
Section 16-22A-14 Exceptions – Nonpublic schools. If a nonpublic school wishes not to do the fingerprinting procedure of their applicants, current employees, or current employees under review, they shall not be required to do so, then the applicant for nonpublic employment, nonpublic current employee, or nonpublic current employee under review shall request a criminal history […]
Section 16-22A-15 Exceptions – Church officials. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any pastor, priest, rabbi, clergyman, or other church official except when acting in the capacity of a full-time regular classroom teacher. (Act 99-361, p. 566, §15; Act 2002-457, p. 1171, §1.)
Section 16-22A-16 Construction. Except as expressly specified in this chapter pertaining to criminal history background information checks of applicants for nonpublic employment, nonpublic current employees, and nonpublic current employees under review, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to establish state control over curriculum or the selection of personnel in private or parochial/church schools, nor […]
Section 16-22A-17 Disposition of fees. All fees received by the Department of Public Safety for criminal history background information checks and fingerprint training courses conducted pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited to the Public Safety Automated Fingerprint Identification System Fund, to be appropriated to and expended by the Department of Public Safety in accordance […]
Section 16-22A-18 Repealer. This chapter is supplementary to and shall be construed in pari materia with other laws. To the extent that this chapter specifically conflicts with other laws pertaining to criminal history background information checks, this chapter shall take precedence. Nothing contained within this chapter shall be construed to diminish, reduce, or conflict with […]
Section 16-22A-2 Legislative intent. Under the National Child Protection Act of 1993, Public Law 103-209, 42 U.S.C. 5119, et seq., the states are required to implement a computerized information system to provide child abuse crime information through the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Criminal History Record Information System and may conduct a nationwide criminal history […]
Section 16-22A-3 Definitions. When used in this chapter only, the following terms shall have the following meanings, respectively, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: (1) APPLICANT. A certified or noncertified individual who submits an application for employment to a local employing board or any nonpublic school, to act in any capacity in which the individual […]
Section 16-22A-4 Initiation of request for criminal history background check. Any person who wishes to initiate a request for a criminal history background check of a current employee shall be required to provide a written signed statement to the designated chief executive officer of an authorized employer containing the reasonable articulable grounds supporting a request […]
Section 16-22A-5 Agencies required to conduct criminal history background information checks. (a) A criminal history background information check shall be conducted on all applicants seeking positions with, and on all current employees under review employed by any local employing board, and any State Department of Education personnel as determined by the State Superintendent of Education, […]
Section 16-22A-6 Request from schools for criminal history background information check. (a) The State Department of Education, or other public authorized employer responsible for hiring employees who will have unsupervised access to children in an educational setting, shall request through the State Department of Education, that the Department of Public Safety secure from both the […]
Section 16-22A-7 Responsibilities of individuals to provide information. (a) An applicant for certification, applicant for public employment, or public current employee under review with the State Department of Education or local employing board, who has or will have unsupervised access to a child or children in an educational setting, shall, upon request, submit the following […]
Section 16-22A-8 Fingerprint training courses. (a) The Department of Public Safety and the State Department of Education shall cooperatively schedule sufficient training throughout the state to train all local superintendents of education, or their duly appointed representatives, in proper fingerprinting techniques. (b) The chief executive officers of nonpublic schools shall arrange with the Department of […]
Section 16-22A-9 Collection and transfer of fingerprints, fees, and information. (a) Local employing boards and other public authorized employers required to obtain criminal history background information checks under this chapter shall collect and forward to the State Department of Education, two complete acceptable sets of fingerprints, written consent, and nonrefundable fee, when applicable, from applicants […]
