Legislative Wins in Honor of Native American Heritage Month
To celebrate Native American Heritage Month, we are sharing all the favorable outcomes of the 82nd Legislative Session.
As all our relatives become more engaged in civic matters, please know that the bill which “Revises various provisions relating to background checks,” is now a law.
Existing law establishes certain circumstances in which a volunteer who is likely to have unsupervised contact with pupils is not required to submit fingerprints to the governing body of a charter school, the governing body of a university school for profoundly gifted pupils or the board of trustees of a school district. (NRS 388A.516, 388C.205, 391.105)
Sections 7, 8, and 11 of this bill establish requirements relating to investigations into the criminal background of such volunteers that are conducted in such circumstances.
Existing law requires an applicant for a license as a teacher or another educational personnel position to submit to the Superintendent of Public Instruction a complete set of his or her fingerprints and written permission authorizing the Superintendent to forward the fingerprints to the Central Repository for its report on the criminal history of the applicant and for submission to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (hereinafter “FBI”) for its report on the criminal history of the applicant.
Existing law requires the Superintendent to forward the information obtained from an investigation of the applicant to the board of trustees of a school district, the governing body of a charter school or the university school for profoundly gifted pupils or the administrator of a private school where the applicant is employed or seeking employment. (NRS 391.033)
Section 9 of this bill removes such a requirement. Existing law also requires the Department of Education to:
(1) maintain a list of the names of persons whose applications for a license are denied due to conviction of a sexual offense involving a minor;
(2) update the list monthly; and
(3) provide the list to the board of trustees of a school district or the governing body of a charter school upon request. (NRS 391.033)
Section 9 removes such provisions. Existing law authorizes the board of trustees of a school district to employ teacher aides and other auxiliary, nonprofessional personnel to assist licensed personnel in the instruction or supervision of children. (NRS 391.100)
Section 10 of this bill replaces the term “other auxiliary, nonprofessional personnel” with the term “paraprofessionals.”
Existing law requires certain applicants for employment with and employees of a private school and volunteers at a private school who are likely to have unsupervised contact with pupils to submit to the administrator of the private school, before beginning employment and at least once every 5 years thereafter, a complete set of fingerprints of the applicant, employee or volunteer and written permission authorizing the administrator to forward those fingerprints to the Central Repository for its report on the criminal history of the applicant, employee or volunteer and for submission to the FBI for its report on the criminal history of the applicant, employee or volunteer. (NRS 394.155)
Existing law also provides exceptions to such a requirement in certain circumstances for volunteers at a private school who are likely to have unsupervised contact with pupils. (NRS 394.157)
Section 13 of this bill removes such provisions requiring the submission of fingerprints to the administrator of a private school, and section 89 of this bill accordingly repeals the exceptions to such a requirement.
Section 12 of this bill makes a conforming change to remove a reference to the repealed section containing the exceptions to such a requirement.
Existing law requires every applicant for a license to practice dental hygiene, dental therapy, or dentistry, or any of its special branches, to satisfy certain requirements as part of the application process. (NRS 631.220)
Section 53 of this bill removes the applicability of the requirements to such special branches.
Section 51 of this bill defines the term “dentistry,” and section 52 of this bill makes a conforming change to indicate the proper placement of section 51 in the Nevada Revised Statutes.
Existing law enacts the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact, which is designed, in general, to allow telepsychological practice across state lines and temporary in-person, face-to-face services in a state in which a psychologist is not licensed to practice psychology. The Compact requires the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact Commission to provide for the development and maintenance of a Coordinated Licensure Information System (hereinafter “Coordinated Database”) to which a compact state is required to submit certain information concerning licensees. The Compact also authorizes the Commission to convene in a closed, nonpublic meeting if the Commission must discuss certain information, including the disclosure of investigatory records compiled for law enforcement purposes. (NRS 641.227)
Section 60 of this bill:
(1) prohibits a compact state from submitting to the Coordinated Database any information concerning the criminal history of a licensee that is included in a report from the Central Repository or the FBI; and
(2) removes the ability of the Commission to discuss the disclosure of investigatory records compiled for law enforcement purposes. Existing law establishes the requirements for the licensing of marriage and family therapists, clinical professional counselors, marriage and family therapist interns and clinical professional counselor interns. (NRS 641A.210-641A.2888)
Section 61 of this bill provides that an applicant for a license to practice as a marriage and family therapist or clinical professional counselor, a license by endorsement to practice as a marriage and family therapist or clinical professional counselor or a license as a marriage and family therapist intern or clinical professional counselor intern, in addition to satisfying any other requirements, is required to submit to the Board of Examiners for Marriage and Family Therapists and Clinical Professional Counselors a complete set of fingerprints and written permission authorizing the Board to forward those fingerprints to the Central Repository for its report on the criminal history of the applicant and for submission to the FBI for its report on the criminal history of the applicant. Existing law requires an applicant for any license, permit or certificate issued by the Nevada Funeral and Cemetery Services Board to submit a complete set of his or her fingerprints to the Board. (NRS 642.511)
Section 65 of this bill sets forth the specific licenses, permits and certificates for which an applicant is applying that require the submission of his or her fingerprints to the Board. Existing law requires each applicant for a license to engage in the business of a medical cannabis establishment or an adult-use cannabis establishment and certain other persons associated with the proposed medical cannabis establishment or adult-use cannabis establishment to submit a complete set of the person’s fingerprints and written permission authorizing the Cannabis Compliance Board to forward the fingerprints to the Central Repository for submission to the FBI for its report on the criminal history of the applicant or other person, as applicable. (NRS 678B.210, 678B.250)
Sections 81-84 of this bill define certain terms for the purposes of such provisions. Section 85 of this bill makes a conforming change to indicate the proper placement of sections 81-84 in the Nevada Revised Statutes.
The NEVADA INDIAN COMMISSION (NIC) is a State agency created by statute in 1965 to “study matters affecting the social and economic welfare and well-being of American Indians residing in Nevada, including but not limited to matters and problems relating to Indian affairs and to federal and state control, responsibility, policy, and operations affecting such Indians.” Beginning on July 1, 2024, our agency will be known as the Department of Native American Affairs (DNA).
For more information about, the new law related to background checks for certain professions, click here.