Amends and adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding submission by a covered entity for fingerprint screening.

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 521 BY JUDICIARY, RULES AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE AN ACT1 RELATING TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORDS AND CRIME INFORMATION; AMENDING SEC-2 TION 67-3008, IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE A PROVISION REGARDING THE RELEASE3 OF CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD INFORMATION AND TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORREC-4 TIONS; AMENDING CHAPTER 30, TITLE 67, IDAHO CODE, BY THE ADDITION OF A5 NEW SECTION 67-3008A, IDAHO CODE, TO ESTABLISH PROVISIONS REGARDING6 SUBMISSION BY A COVERED ENTITY FOR FINGERPRINT SCREENING; AND DECLARING7 AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.8

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:9

SECTION 1. That Section 67-3008, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby10 amended to read as follows:11 67-3008. RELEASE OF CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD INFORMATION. (1) All12 units of state, city, and local governments; and any agency of the state cre-13 ated by the legislature that requires, by statute, rule, or local or county14 ordinance, fingerprinting of applicants or licensees; and any persons as-15 sociated with private, noncriminal justice entities that qualify under the16 national child protection act of 1993 and volunteers for children act that17 serve vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly, and individuals18 with disabilities are authorized to submit fingerprints to the bureau for19 examination and for further submission, if necessary, to the federal bureau20 of investigation. The bureau shall be the state's sole source of fingerprint21 submissions to the federal bureau of investigation for criminal justice and22 applicant or licensing purposes to the federal bureau of investigation.23 (2) The department shall provide copies of or communicate information24 from criminal history records to the following:25 (a) Criminal justice agencies and the court;26 (b) A person or public agency or private entity, upon written applica-27 tion on a form approved by the director and provided by the department,28 subject to the following restrictions:29 (i) A request for criminal history records must be submitted in30 writing or as provided by rule. However, the department shall ac-31 cept a request presented in person by the subject of the record;32 (ii) The request must identify a specific person by name and date33 of birth. Fingerprints of the person named may be required to es-34 tablish positive identification;35 (iii) Responding to the request does not interfere with the secure36 and orderly conduct of the department and would not substantially37 prejudice or prevent the carrying out of the functions of the de-38 partment;39 (iv) A record of an arrest that does not contain a disposition af-40 ter twelve (12) months from the date of arrest may only be dissem-41 inated by the department to criminal justice agencies, to the sub-42

2 ject of the record, or to a person requesting the criminal history1 information with a signed release from the subject of the record;2 and3 (v) Any release of criminal history data by the department shall4 prominently display the statement: "AN ARREST WITHOUT DISPOSI-5 TION IS NOT AN INDICATION OF GUILT."6 (3) Judicial review of the department's denial of a request for records7 shall be in accordance with the provisions of section 74-115, Idaho Code.8 (4) A request for a criminal history record by a criminal justice agency9 or a court shall take precedence over all other requests. The department10 shall adopt rules to set forth the manner by which criminal justice agencies11 and courts without direct access to the public safety and security informa-12 tion system established by section 19-5202, Idaho Code, may request Idaho13 criminal history record information.14 (5) Unless otherwise provided by law, access authorized under this15 section to criminal history records does not create a duty upon a person,16 employer, private entity, or public agency to examine the criminal history17 record of an applicant, employee or volunteer.18 (6) A person or private entity, or public agency, other than the depart-19 ment, shall not disseminate criminal history record information obtained20 from the department to a person or agency that is not a criminal justice21 agency or a court without a signed release of the subject of record or unless22 otherwise provided by law.23 (7) Direct access to criminal history record information is regulated24 by chapter 52, title 19, Idaho Code, and the rules adopted pursuant to that25 chapter.26

SECTION 2. That Chapter 30, Title 67, Idaho Code, be, and the same is27 hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and des-28 ignated as Section 67-3008A, Idaho Code, and to read as follows:29 67-3008A. SUBMISSION BY A COVERED ENTITY FOR FINGERPRINT SCREEN-30 ING. (1) Any private, noncriminal justice entities qualifying to partic-31 ipate under the national child protection act of 1993 and volunteers for32 children act, as amended, that serve vulnerable populations such as chil-33 dren, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities are authorized to34 submit fingerprints to the bureau for examination and for further submis-35 sion, if necessary, to the federal bureau of investigation for a criminal36 history records check. The bureau shall be the state's sole source of fin-37 gerprint submissions to the federal bureau of investigation for applicant or38 licensing purposes.39 (2) A qualified entity shall submit a request for fingerprint screen-40 ing to the bureau for a covered individual, independent contractor, vendor41 employee, or volunteer of the qualified entity who has supervised or unsu-42 pervised access to children, the elderly, or individuals with disabilities43 for eligibility screening of any state criminal history records and for for-44 warding to the federal bureau of investigation for its report on the criminal45 history of that person.46 (3) The bureau shall provide written notification to any person being47 screened regarding the right of the person to obtain a copy of his background48 screening report, including without limitation any records of criminal his-49

3 tory contained in the report, to appeal the results of the background screen-1 ing report, to challenge the accuracy and completeness of any information2 contained therein, and to obtain a determination as to the validity of such a3 challenge before the qualified entity makes a final determination as to the4 fitness of the person to have responsibility for the safety and well-being of5 vulnerable populations.6 (4) A request submitted pursuant to subsection (2) of this section7 shall be accompanied by the payment of a fee to the bureau as authorized by8 section 67-3010, Idaho Code, plus the amount prescribed by the federal bu-9 reau of investigation for its report on the criminal history of the person in10 accordance with the provisions of 34 U.S.C. 40102(e).11 (5) After a request is submitted pursuant to subsection (2) of this sec-12 tion, the bureau shall provide directly to the qualified entity:13 (a) Any records of criminal history of the person being screened that14 are not otherwise confidential pursuant to applicable statute or law;15 and16 (b) Any records of criminal history of the person being screened that17 were received from the federal bureau of investigation. Any records of18 criminal history obtained shall be available for qualified entities to19 use only for the purpose of screening covered individuals, independent20 contractors, vendor employees, or volunteers of the qualified entity21 who have supervised or unsupervised access to vulnerable populations.22 (6) Determination as to the fitness of a person to have responsibility23 for the safety and well-being of vulnerable populations shall be the sole re-24 sponsibility of the qualified entity that submitted the request for screen-25 ing.26 (7) The bureau may audit any qualified entity that submits a request27 for screening pursuant to subsection (2) of this section to ensure compli-28 ance with all applicable state and federal laws. Each qualified entity shall29 maintain all signed waivers allowing such requests for the purpose of an au-30 dit for at least one (1) audit cycle or for as long as the screened individual31 is employed by or volunteers for the qualified entity, whichever is greater.32 (8) As used in this section:33 (a) "Covered individual" means an individual who has, seeks to have, or34 may have access to children, the elderly, or individuals with disabili-35 ties served by a qualified entity and:36 (i) Is employed by, volunteers with, or seeks to be employed by or37 volunteer with a qualified entity;38 (ii) Owns or operates, or seeks to own or operate, a qualified en-39 tity; or40 (iii) Is an independent contractor or vendor working or volunteer-41 ing in the same capacity as an employee or volunteer of a qualified42 entity.43 (b) "Qualified entity" means a business or organization, whether pub-44 lic, private, for-profit, not-for-profit, or volunteer, that meets the45 qualifications to participate in criminal history records screening46 pursuant to P.L. 103-209, the national child protection act of 1993, as47 amended, and 28 CFR 105, subpart D, the child protection improvements48 act.49

4

SECTION 3. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby1 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after2 July 1, 2026.3