AB234

As of July 1, 2010, AB 346 requires a Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background check for classified school employees or volunteers who are working alone with students in a student activity sponsored by a school district.

A concern has been whether an individual can receive just an FBI fingerprint or is a DOJ fingerprint required in order to have the FBI print completed. Because all classified employees are already DOJ printed and many volunteers are as well, having to be re-fingerprinted by DOJ in order to get the FBI print would be expensive to school districts and individuals.

In order to help mitigate the costs for school districts associated with conducting another DOJ and FBI background check, the DOJ will be offering a one-time only opportunity where school districts can obtain a FBI ONLY background check for these employees or volunteers in order to comply with the provisions of AB 346.

The timeframe to be able to take advantage of this offer is September 1 – December 31, 2010. The cost associated with the FBI background check is $19 for classified employees and $15 for volunteers plus the fingerprint rolling fee charged by Live Scan Fresno.

The DOJ has made the live scan forms available and highlighted the information which the school district will need to provide so that the DOJ response is sent to the correct school district. The Contributing Agency Information towards the top of the document and School District toward the bottom are mandatory fields to ensure accuracy. School districts should fill out the mandatory information prior to giving the form to the applicant. The rest of the information pertains to the individual applicant.

The 5-digit mail code is not a mandatory field. However, school districts are usually assigned a mail code in order for the DOJ response to be sent electronically. As such, they should enter their mail code in this field. If you do not put your code in this field, the DOJ response will be sent via US Mail. This document can be used by county offices of education who fingerprint on behalf of school districts as well.

The DOJ has specially developed the forms to provide a mechanism for FBI only fingerprinting. It will be of tremendous assistance to school districts and others who are in the process of complying with AB 346. Remember, this is a one-time, four-month opportunity. This form will not be recognized after January 1, 2011.

If you are a school district and you need to obtain the forms, you can do so by contacting us or contacting the DOJ’s Applicant Processing Program at 916-227-3836.