Idaho Bills

Amends existing law to provide for certain criminal history checks to be performed.

This bill amends Idaho Code Section 67-827A to allow for a single criminal background check at the Office of Information Technology Services (OITS) to satisfy consolidated agency’s federal and state regulations. Specifically, it outlines the requirement for criminal background checks on prospective IT employees and contractors working with the OITS. Currently, consolidated departments, agencies and commissions supported by OITS require up to ten separate criminal background checks due to state and federal regulations, which needlessly cost the state more money and staff time. These background checks will apply to individuals providing IT services to state agencies in twelve disciplines, ranging from network engineering and software development to data science and IT management. The background check will involve fingerprinting and will include searches of both the Idaho and FBI criminal databases.

Relates to the appropriation to the Office of Information Technology Services for fiscal years 2025 and 2026.

This appropriation to the Office of Information Technology Services provides enhancements to the FY 2026 budget that includes appropriation for new office space, enterprise security investments, emergency connectivity network investments, IT infrastructure investments, a ServiceNow project management software, the transfer of IT personnel from Idaho State Police and the Department of Juvenile Corrections, and replacement items. Additionally, this appropriation provides a onetime supplemental request for additional office equipment in FY 2025. This appropriation does not include additional appropriation for vehicle leases, or additional appropriation for a new Cybersecurity and IT Resilience Fund cash transfer. In total, $4,496,200 in enhancement requests by the agency and the Governor are not included in this bill.