Captain Jason Berry
Government and Media Relations
(360) 596-4010 – office
(360) 596-4015 – fax
http://www.wsp.wa.gov
*** For Immediate Release***
Date:
June 1, 2010
Contact:
Deborah Collinsworth
Phone:
360-534-2102
E-mail:
deborah.collinsworth@wsp.wa.gov
Counties, Cities, and Towns May Now Require Federal Background Checks by Ordinance
The 2010 Washington State Legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 6288, effective June 10, 2010, which allows the authority of counties, cities, and towns to request state and federal fingerprint based background checks of certain individuals. Those individuals include license applicants or licensees in occupations specified by ordinance for the purpose of receiving criminal history record information by county, city or town officials, and code city officials.
SB 6288, which adds to the Revised Code of Washington (RCW), new sections to the following chapters:
RCW 36.01, authorizing counties by ordinance, to require a state and federal background investigation of license applicants or licensees in occupations specified by ordinance;
RCW 35.21, authorizing cities or towns by ordinance to require a state and federal background investigation of license applicants or licensees in occupations specified by ordinance; and
RCW 35A.21, authorizing code cities by ordinance to require a state and federal background investigation of license applicants or licensees in occupations specified by ordinance.
Authorizing officials of counties, towns, and cities, and code cities may enact ordinances requiring federal fingerprint based background checks of license applicants or licensees in specified occupations. Each ordinance must reference the authorizing state statute, contain the necessary Public Law 92-544 criteria, and be forwarded to the Washington State Patrol (WSP) for review; WSP will then forward to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Access Integrity Unit (AIU) for review, approval and addition to the Washington’s approved statute list for federal background checks.
If your county, city, or town is interested in implementing an ordinance for a specified occupation, please contact Ms. Deborah Collinsworth, Washington State Patrol, Identification and Criminal History Section Manager at (360) 534-2102 for more information and suggested language for such ordinances.