A. Nationwide criminal history record checks shall be conducted on all operators, staff and employees and prospective operators, staff and employees of child care facilities, including every facility or program that has primary custody of children for twenty hours or more per week, and juvenile detention, correction or treatment facilities. Nationwide criminal history record checks shall also be conducted on all prospective foster or adoptive parents and other adult relatives and non-relatives residing in the prospective foster or adoptive parent's household. The objective of conducting the record checks is to protect the children involved and promote the children's safety and welfare while receiving service from the facilities and programs.
B. The department shall fingerprint all operators, staff and employees and prospective operators, staff and employees of child care facilities and all prospective foster or adoptive parents and other adult relatives and non-relatives residing in the prospective foster or adoptive parent's household. The department shall conduct a background check of all operators, staff and employees and prospective operators, staff and employees of child care facilities and all prospective foster or adoptive parents and other adult relatives and non-relatives residing in the prospective foster or adoptive parent's household and shall submit a fingerprint card for those individuals to the department of public safety and the federal bureau of investigation for this purpose.
C. Criminal history records obtained by the department pursuant to the provisions of this section are confidential. The department is authorized to use criminal history records obtained from the federal bureau of investigation to conduct background checks on prospective operators, staff and employees of child care facilities and foster parents.
D. Criminal history records obtained pursuant to the provisions of this section shall not be used for any purpose other than conducting background checks. Criminal history records obtained pursuant to the provisions of this section and the information contained in those records shall not be released or disclosed to any other person or agency, except pursuant to a court order or with the written consent of the person who is the subject of the records.
E. A person who releases or discloses criminal history records or information contained in those records in violation of the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be sentenced pursuant to the provisions of Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978.
History: Laws 1985, ch. 103, § 3 and Laws 1985, ch. 140, § 3; 1978 Comp., § 24-18-3, recompiled as 1978 Comp., § 32-9-3; recompiled as 1978 Comp., § 32A-15-3 by Laws 1993, ch. 77, § 216; 1999, ch. 146, § 1; 2003, ch. 261, § 2; 2005, ch. 189, § 76.
ANNOTATIONSLaws 1985, ch. 103, § 3 and Laws 1985, ch. 140, § 3, enacted identical sections.
The 2005 amendment, effective June 17, 2005, provided in Subsection A that nationwide criminal history record checks shall be conducted on all prospective foster or adoptive parents and other adult relatives and non-relatives residing in the prospective foster or adoptive parent's household; and provided in Subsection B that the department shall fingerprint and conduct a background check of all adoptive parents and other adult relatives and non-relatives residing in the prospective foster or adoptive parent's household.
The 2003 amendment, effective July 1, 2003, substituted "conducting the record checks is to protect" for "protecting" following "The objective of" near the beginning of the second sentence of Subsection A; rewrote Subsection B; and added Subsections C, D and E.
The 1999 amendment, effective July 1, 1999, added "Background Checks" in the section heading, substituted "the" for "such" in Subsection A and added Subsection B.