(1) (a) When any school district finds good cause to believe that any licensed personnel employed by such school district has been convicted of any felony or misdemeanor, other than a misdemeanor traffic offense or traffic infraction, subsequent to such employment, such school district shall require such person to submit a complete set of his or her fingerprints taken by a qualified law enforcement agency, an authorized employee of the school district or board of cooperative services, or any third party approved by the Colorado bureau of investigation. At the request of a school district, a law enforcement agency that has fingerprinting equipment that meets the federal bureau of investigation image quality standards shall take the fingerprints of an employee pursuant to this section if an approved third-party vendor is not operating within twenty miles of the school district within the law enforcement agency's jurisdiction. A school district employee or board of cooperative services employee may use any fingerprinting equipment that meets the federal bureau of investigation image quality standards. If an approved third party takes the person's fingerprints, the fingerprints may be electronically captured using Colorado bureau of investigation-approved livescan equipment. Third-party vendors shall not keep the applicant information for more than thirty days unless requested to do so by the applicant. The fingerprints must be submitted within twenty days of receipt of written notification from the school district.
For purposes of this subsection (1), a person is deemed to be convicted of committing a felony or misdemeanor if such person has been convicted under the laws of any other state, the United States, or any territory subject to the jurisdiction of the United States of an unlawful act which, if committed within this state, would be a felony or misdemeanor.
For purposes of this subsection (1), "convicted" means a conviction by a jury or by acourt and shall also include the forfeiture of any bail, bond, or other security deposited to secure appearance by a person charged with a felony or misdemeanor, the payment of a fine, a plea of nolo contendere, and the imposition of a deferred or suspended sentence by the court.
(2) (a) Any school district to which fingerprints are submitted pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall forward such fingerprints to the Colorado bureau of investigation for the purpose of conducting a state and national fingerprint-based criminal history record check utilizing the records of the Colorado bureau of investigation and the federal bureau of investigation.
(b) When the results of a fingerprint-based criminal history record check of an employee performed pursuant to this section reveal a record of arrest without a disposition, the school district shall require that employee to submit to a name-based criminal history record check, as defined in section 22-2-119.3 (6)(d).
(3) All costs arising from the taking of fingerprints and from any fingerprint processing performed by the Colorado bureau of investigation pursuant to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section and costs arising from the performance of a name-based criminal history record check must be borne by school districts. School districts shall not charge licensed personnel any fees for the direct and indirect costs of such school district for fingerprint processing or criminal history record checks performed pursuant to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section.
Source: L. 90: Entire section added, p. 1113, § 3, effective June 7. L. 93: (1)(a)(I) amended, p. 71, § 2, effective March 26. L. 2000: (1)(a) and (3) amended, p. 1856, § 58, effective August 2. L. 2002: (1)(a) and (2) amended, p. 975, § 10, effective June 1. L. 2017:
(1)(a) amended, (SB 17-189), ch. 149, p. 503, § 11, effective August 9. L. 2019: (1)(a) amended, (HB 19-1186), ch. 94, p. 346, § 5, effective April 10; (2) and (3) amended, (HB 19-1166), ch. 125, p. 548, § 27, effective April 18.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 19-1186, see section 1 of chapter 94, Session Laws of Colorado 2019.