[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2083 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2083
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require
criminal background checks for school employees.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 22, 2013
Mr. George Miller of California (for himself, Ms. Wilson of Florida,
Mr. Rangel, Ms. Slaughter, and Mrs. McCarthy of New York) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education
and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require
criminal background checks for school employees.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Students from Sexual and
Violent Predators Act''.
SEC. 2. BACKGROUND CHECKS.
Subpart 2 of part E of title IX of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7901 et seq.) is amended by adding at
the end the following:
``SEC. 9537. BACKGROUND CHECKS.
``(a) Background Checks.--Each State educational agency that
receives funds under this Act shall have in effect policies and
procedures that--
``(1) require that criminal background checks be conducted
for each school employee that include--
``(A) a search of the State criminal registry or
repository in the State in which the school employee
resides and each State in which the school employee
previously resided;
``(B) a search of State-based child abuse and
neglect registries and databases in the State in which
the school employee resides and each State in which the
school employee previously resided;
``(C) a Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint
check using the Integrated Automated Fingerprint
Identification System; and
``(D) a search of the National Sex Offender
Registry established under section 19 of the Adam Walsh
Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C.
16919);
``(2) prohibit the employment of an individual as a school
employee if such individual--
``(A) refuses to consent to a criminal background
check under paragraph (1);
``(B) makes a false statement in connection with
such criminal background check;
``(C) has been convicted of a felony consisting
of--
``(i) homicide;
``(ii) child abuse or neglect;
``(iii) a crime against children, including
child pornography;
``(iv) spousal abuse;
``(v) a crime involving rape or sexual
assault;
``(vi) kidnapping;
``(vii) arson; or
``(viii) physical assault, battery, or a
drug-related offense, committed within 5 years
of the completion of such individual's criminal
background check under paragraph (1); or
``(D) has been convicted of any other crime that is
a violent or sexual crime against a minor;
``(3) require that a local educational agency or State
educational agency that receives information from a criminal
background check conducted paragraph (1) that an individual who
has applied for employment as a school employee with such
agency is a sexual predator, report to local law enforcement
that such individual has so applied;
``(4) require that criminal background checks conducted
under paragraph (1) be periodically repeated or updated in
accordance with State law or local educational policy, but not
less than once every 5 years;
``(5) require that each school employee who has had a
criminal background check under paragraph (1) be provided with
a copy of the background check; and
``(6) provide for a timely process by which a school
employee may appeal, but which does not permit the school
employee to be employed as a school employee during such
appeal, the results of a criminal background check conducted
under paragraph (1) to--
``(A) challenge the accuracy or completeness of the
information produced by such background check; and
``(B) seek appropriate relief for any final
employment decision based on materially inaccurate or
incomplete information produced by such background
check.
``(b) Inventory Authorized.--A State educational agency may
maintain an inventory of all the information from criminal background
checks conducted under subsection (a)(1) on school employees in the
State.
``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) School employee.--The term `school employee' means--
``(A) an employee of, or a person seeking
employment with, a local educational agency or State
educational agency, and who has a job duty that results
in access to students; or
``(B) an employee of, or a person seeking
employment with, a for-profit or nonprofit entity, or
local public agency, that has a contract or agreement
to provide services with a school, local educational
agency, or State educational agency, and whose job
duty--
``(i) is to provide such services; and
``(ii) results in access to students.
``(2) Sexual predator.--The term `sexual predator' means a
person 18 years of age or older who has been convicted of, or
pled guilty to, a sexual offense against a minor.''.
SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.
Section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is
amended by adding after the item relating to section 9536 the
following:
``Sec. 9537. Background checks.''.
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