HOUSE BILL NO. 546

INTRODUCED BY S. GALLUS

A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT REQUIRING NURSING HOME WORKERS AND NURSING HOME ADMINISTRATORS TO HAVE A CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND CHECK FOR PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYMENT IN A NURSING HOME; ALLOWING DISSEMINATION OF CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD INFORMATION TO NURSING HOMES; PROVIDING FOR COST-SHARING OF THE FEE BY THE STATE, THE NURSING HOME, AND THE APPLICANT; PROVIDING A CONTINGENT VOIDNESS PROVISION; AMENDING SECTIONS 37-9-301 AND 44-5-302, MCA; AND PROVIDING EFFECTIVE DATES."

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

NEW SECTION. Section 1. Purpose. The purpose of [section 2] is to protect the elderly and persons with disabilities of all ages by checking the criminal history of applicants seeking employment in a nursing home in order to determine their fitness as it pertains to public health, safety, and welfare. The safety of vulnerable individuals who are dependent on residential nursing care services will be improved by requiring criminal history background checks on prospective employees.

NEW SECTION. Section 2. Criminal background checks for nursing home workers and administrators. (1) A nursing home shall request a criminal history background check on every applicant being considered for employment as a nursing home worker or a nursing home administrator.

(2) For purposes of this section:

(a) "nursing home" means a long-term care facility licensed under 50-5-204 and certified in the federal medicare program; and

(b) "worker" means any employee of a nursing home.

(3) (a) An application for employment or licensure must include a place for an applicant to provide criminal history information and to inform the applicant of the requirement for a criminal history background check.

(b) An application for a criminal history background check must include the fee provided for in [section 5].

(4) The nursing home shall review the results of the background check to ascertain whether the applicant is charged with or has been convicted or adjudicated of a crime in order to evaluate the fitness of the applicant for employment as a worker in a nursing home. Conviction of an offense that relates to the public health, safety, and welfare as it applies to employment as a nursing home worker is sufficient reason to warrant not hiring an applicant. A nursing home is subject to the provisions of 50-5-207.

(5) An employer may perform a criminal history background check on an employee every 24 months at the employer's expense.

Section 3. Section 37-9-301, MCA, is amended to read:

"37-9-301. Qualifications for licensure -- examination. (1) The department shall register and issue licenses to qualified persons as nursing home administrators, and the board shall establish qualification criteria for nursing home administrators. A registration or license may not be issued to a person as a nursing home administrator unless the person:

(a) is determined to be of good character. The department may review results of a criminal history background check as provided for in [section 2].

(b) is of sound physical and mental health and has received a high school diploma or its equivalent; and

(c) (i) has satisfactorily completed a course of instruction and training prescribed by the board that is designed and administered to present sufficient knowledge of the needs properly served by long-term care facilities, laws governing the operation of long-term care facilities and the protection of the interests of patients, and the elements of good nursing home administration; or

(ii) has presented evidence satisfactory to the board of sufficient education, training, or experience, or a combination of education, training, and experience, in the fields referred to in subsection (1)(c)(i) to administer, supervise, and manage a long-term care facility; and

(d) has passed an examination designed to test for competence in the subject matters referred to in subsection (1)(c)(i).

(2) The minimum standards for qualification must comply with the requirements, if any, set forth in Title XIX of the Social Security Act, Public Law 90-248, as amended."

Section 4. Section 44-5-302, MCA, is amended to read:

"44-5-302. Dissemination of criminal history record information that is not public criminal justice information. (1) Criminal history record information may not be disseminated to agencies other than criminal justice agencies unless:

(a) the information is disseminated with the consent or at the request of the individual about whom it relates according to procedures specified in 44-5-214 and 44-5-215;

(b) a district court considers dissemination necessary;

(c) the information is disseminated in compliance with 44-5-304; or

(d) the agency receiving the information is authorized by law to receive it.

(2) The department of justice and other criminal justice agencies may accept fingerprints from and may provide available state, multistate, local, federal (to the extent allowed by federal law), and other criminal history record information to:

(a) the state bar for licensing purposes, with respect to applicants for admission to the state bar of Montana ; and

(b) a nursing home for the purpose of checking the criminal history of an applicant seeking employment as a nursing home worker or a nursing home administrator as provided in [section 2]."

NEW SECTION. Section 5. Cost-sharing for fee of background check. Of the total $50 fee for a criminal history background check on applicants seeking employment in a nursing home as a nursing home worker or a nursing home administrator as provided for in [section 2], $20 must be paid by the department, $20 must be paid by the nursing home seeking to hire an applicant as a nursing home worker or a nursing home administrator, and $10 must be paid by the applicant seeking employment.

NEW SECTION. Section 6. Codification instruction. [Sections 1, 2, and 5] are intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 50, chapter 5, part 11, and the provisions of Title 50, chapter 5, part 11, apply to [sections 1, 2, and 5].

NEW SECTION. Section 7. Contingent voidness. If [LC 1716 and LC 1717] are submitted to the electorate and if either [LC 1716 or LC 1717] is not approved by the electorate, then [this act] is void.

NEW SECTION. Section 8. Effective dates. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), if [LC 1716 and LC 1717] are both submitted to and approved by the electorate, [this act] is effective January 1, 2000.

(2) If Constitutional Initiative No. 75, enacting Article VIII, section 17, of the Montana constitution, is declared invalid, then [this act] is effective on the later date of the determination of invalidity or January 1, 2000.

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