Mont. Admin. R. 10.57.201A - CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND CHECK
(1) The
National Child Protection Act of 1993, as amended, (codified at
42
United States Code sections 5119a and
5119c) (the "Act")
authorizes a state and national criminal history background check to determine
the fitness of an employee, volunteer, or other person with unsupervised access
to children, the elderly, or individuals with disabilities. The purpose of this
rule is to support the Superintendent of Public Instruction's duty to determine
whether an applicant for licensure has been convicted of a crime that bears
upon the applicant's fitness related to the safety and well-being of children
and the integrity of the teaching profession.
(2) Each of the following applicants shall
provide to the Montana Department of Justice information and material
sufficient to obtain a fingerprint-based national criminal history background
check:
(a) any applicant for initial Montana
educator licensure;
(b) any
applicant seeking to reinstate a lapsed, surrendered, revoked, or suspended
educator license; or
(c) an
individual for whom a school district is seeking emergency authorization of
employment pursuant to
20-4-111,
MCA, and ARM
10.57.107.
(3) Neither the
Superintendent of Public Instruction nor the Board of Public Education shall
bear the costs of the background check.
(4) The Superintendent of Public Instruction
shall not issue a Montana educator license pursuant to
20-4-101,
et seq., MCA, until the applicant's background check has been completed and the
results delivered to and reviewed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
(5) To initiate the criminal
history background check process, the applicant must submit a set of
fingerprints on the appropriate form to the Montana Department of Justice for
the purpose of licensure. Criminal background checks submitted for other
purposes will not be acceptable for licensure.
(6) As part of the licensure application
process, the applicant must provide character and fitness information to the
Superintendent of Public Instruction. If the applicant has any criminal history
record, the applicant must provide a description and explanation of the
circumstances of the crime.
(7)
Each applicant who is the subject of a criminal history background check is
entitled to receive a copy of the report from the Superintendent of Public
Instruction with the appropriate identification and signed release. The
applicant may challenge the accuracy and completeness of any information
contained in any such report through the Montana Department of Justice
procedures.
(8) The Montana Office
of Public Instruction shall make a determination whether the applicant has been
convicted of, or is under pending indictment for, a crime that bears upon the
applicant's fitness related to the safety and well-being of children or the
teaching profession.
(9)
Conviction, including conviction following a plea of nolo contendere, a
conviction in which the sentence is suspended or deferred, or any other
adjudication treated by the court as a conviction, may be considered by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction in the licensure process if the conviction
was for a sexual offense, a crime involving violence, the sale of drugs, theft,
or any other offense related to public health, welfare, and safety as it
applies to the teaching profession.
Notes
AUTH: Mont. Const. Art. X, sec. 9, 20-4-102, MCA; IMP: Mont. Const. Art. X, sec. 9, 20-4-103, 20-4-104, MCA
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.