Act No. 129

Public Acts of 2005

Approved by the Governor

September 28, 2005

Filed with the Secretary of State

September 29, 2005

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 2006

STATE OF MICHIGAN

93RD LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2005

Introduced by Reps. Hansen, Rocca, Booher, Pearce, Gosselin, Proos, Pavlov, Elsenheimer, Moore,
David Law, Kahn, Green, Amos, Mortimer, Cushingberry, Nitz, Jones, Taub, Walker, Stewart,
Vander Veen, Casperson, Ball, Schuitmaker, Sheltrown, Tobocman and Lemmons, III

ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 4402

AN ACT to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled "An act to provide a system of public instruction and elementary and secondary schools; to revise, consolidate, and clarify the laws relating to elementary and secondary education; to provide for the organization, regulation, and maintenance of schools, school districts, public school academies, intermediate school districts, and other public school entities; to prescribe rights, powers, duties, and privileges of schools, school districts, public school academies, intermediate school districts, and other public school entities; to provide for the regulation of school teachers and certain other school employees; to provide for school elections and to prescribe powers and duties with respect thereto; to provide for the levy and collection of taxes; to provide for the borrowing of money and issuance of bonds and other evidences of indebtedness; to establish a fund and provide for expenditures from that fund; to provide for and prescribe the powers and duties of certain state departments, the state board of education, and certain other boards and officials; to provide for licensure of boarding schools; to prescribe penalties; and to repeal acts and parts of acts," by amending section 1230 (MCL 380.1230), as amended by 1993 PA 284, and by adding section 1230c.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 1230. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, upon an offer of initial employment being made by the board of a school district or intermediate school district or the governing body of a public school academy or nonpublic school to an individual for any full-time or part-time employment or when school officials learn that an individual is being assigned to regularly and continuously work under contract in any of its schools, the district, public school academy, or nonpublic school shall request from the criminal records division of the department of state police a criminal history check on the individual and, before employing the individual as a regular employee or allowing the individual to regularly and continuously work under contract in any of its schools, shall have received from the department of state police the report described in subsection (8).

(2) If the board of a school district or intermediate school district or the governing body of a public school academy or nonpublic school determines it necessary to hire an individual for a particular school year during that school year or within 30 days before the beginning of that school year, the board or governing body may employ the individual as a conditional employee under this subsection without first receiving the report described in subsection (8) if all of the following apply:

(a) The board or governing body requests the criminal history check required under subsection (1) before conditionally employing the individual.

(b) The individual signs a statement identifying all crimes for which he or she has been convicted, if any, and agreeing that, if the report described in subsection (8) is not the same as the individual's statement, his or her employment contract is voidable at the option of the board or governing body. The department shall develop and distribute to districts and nonpublic schools a model form for the statement required under this subdivision. The department shall make the model form available to public school academies. A district, public school academy, or nonpublic school shall use the model form for the purposes of this subsection.

(3) If an individual is employed as a conditional employee under subsection (2) and the report described in subsection(8) is not the same as the individual's statement under subsection (2), the board or governing body may void the individual's employment contract. If an employment contract is voided under this subsection, the individual's employment is terminated, a collective bargaining agreement that would otherwise apply to the individual's employment does not apply to the termination, and the district, public school academy, or nonpublic school or the board or governing body is not liable for the termination.

(4) For an applicant for a position as a substitute teacher, instead of requesting a criminal history check under subsection (1), a school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school may use a report received by another district, public school academy, or nonpublic school or maintained by the department to confirm that the individual does not have any criminal history. If that confirmation is not available, subsection (1) applies to the applicant.

(5) If an applicant is being considered for employment by more than 1 school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school and if the applicant agrees in writing to allow a district, public school academy, or nonpublic school to share the report described in subsection (8) with another district, public school academy, or nonpublic school, a district, public school academy, or nonpublic school may satisfy the requirements of subsection (1) by obtaining a copy of the report described in subsection (8) from another district, public school academy, or nonpublic school.

(6) An applicant for employment shall give written consent at the time of application for the criminal records division of the department of state police to conduct the criminal history check required under this section.

(7) A school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school shall make a request to the criminal records division of the department of state police for a criminal history check required under this section on a form and in a manner prescribed by the criminal records division of the department of state police.

(8) Within 30 days after receiving a proper request by a school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school for a criminal history check on an individual under this section, the criminal records division of the department of state police shall conduct the criminal history check and, after conducting the criminal history check and within that time period, provide a report of the results of the criminal history check to the district, public school academy, or nonpublic school. The report shall contain any criminal history record information on the individual maintained by the criminal records division of the department of state police.

(9) If the report received by a school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school under subsection (8) discloses that an individual has been convicted of a listed offense, then the school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school shall not employ the individual in any capacity, as provided under section 1230c, and shall not allow the individual to regularly and continuously work under contract in any of its schools. If the report received by a school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school under subsection (8) discloses that an individual has been convicted of a felony other than a listed offense, then the school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school shall not employ the individual in any capacity or allow the individual to regularly and continuously work under contract in any of its schools unless the superintendent or chief administrator and the board or governing body of the school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school each specifically approve the employment or work assignment in writing. As used in this subsection, "listed offense" means that term as defined in section 2 of the sex offenders registration act, 1994 PA 295, MCL 28.722.

(10) Criminal history record information received from the criminal records division of the department of state police under subsection (8) shall be used by a school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school only for the purpose of evaluating an individual's qualifications for employment or assignment in the position for which he or she has applied or been assigned and for the purposes of subsections (3), (4), and (5). A member of the board of a district or of the governing body of a public school academy or nonpublic school or an employee of a district, public school academy, or nonpublic school shall not disclose the report or its contents, except any felony conviction or a misdemeanor conviction involving sexual or physical abuse, to any person who is not directly involved in evaluating the applicant's qualifications for employment or assignment. However, for the purposes of subsections (4) and (5), a person described in this subsection may confirm to an employee of another district, public school academy, or nonpublic school that a report under subsection (8) has revealed that an individual does not have any criminal history or may disclose that no report under subsection (8) has been received concerning the individual, and for the purposes of subsection (5), a person described in this subsection may provide a copy of the report under subsection (8) concerning the individual to an appropriate representative of another district, public school academy, or nonpublic school. A person who violates this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $10,000.00, but is not subject to the penalties under section 1804.

(11) As used in this section, "criminal history record information" means that term as defined in section 1a of 1925 PA 289, MCL 28.241a.

Sec. 1230c. (1) If a school official of a school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school has notice from an authoritative source that an individual has been convicted of a listed offense, the board of the school district or intermediate school district, board of directors of the public school academy, or governing board of the nonpublic school shall not employ that individual in any capacity or allow that person to regularly and continuously work under contract in any of its schools.

(2) As used in this section, "listed offense" means that term as defined in section 2 of the sex offenders registration act, 1994 PA 295, MCL 28.722.

Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect January 1, 2006.

Enacting section 2. This amendatory act does not take effect unless all of the following bills of the 93rd Legislature are enacted into law:

(a) House Bill No. 4928.

(b) House Bill No. 4930.

(c) House Bill No. 4991.

(d) Senate Bill No. 601.

(e) Senate Bill No. 609.

(f) Senate Bill No. 611.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Clerk of the House of Representatives

Secretary of the Senate

Approved

Governor