Senate Bill S7287

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S7287

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to mandating
fingerprint-based criminal history record searches of applicants for
police officer appointment

 PURPOSE OF THE BILL :

To amend the Executive Law to require fingerprint-based criminal
history record searches of applicants for police officer appointment.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section one of the bill would amend Executive Law § 837-c(b) to
mandate fingerprint-based criminal history record searches of
applicants for police officer appointment.

Section two would make the bill effective immediately.

 EXISTING LAW :

Executive Law § 837-c(b) currently provides that police departments
may provide fingerprints to the Division of Criminal Justice (DCJS)
for persons applying for employment with a police department; however,
              

they are not required to, thus, allowing some police officers to forgo
criminal history record checks.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

This is a new bill.

 STATEMENT IN SUPPORT :

Police officers have access to criminal history record information,
including federal information, through the Interstate Identification
Index System. Pursuant to 28 CFR § 20.36, an agency wishing to
participate in this system must agree to abide by all rules, policies,
and procedures recommended by the Criminal Justice Information Service
(CJIS) Advisory Policy Board and adopted by the Federal Bureau of
Identification (FBI).

The CJIS security policy, adopted by the Director of the FBI,
specifies that state and national fingerprint-based record checks
shall be conducted within 30 days of assignment for all personnel who
have access to federal criminal history information. A felony
conviction disqualifies an individual from access to criminal history.
Additionally, municipal police agencies are subject to certain laws
regarding eligibility or dismissal based on criminal history. For
example, cities, towns and villages are not specifically required to
submit fingerprints for police officer applicants; however, they are
prohibited from hiring individuals with particular criminal
convictions, which, in essence requires a fingerprint submission (see,
e.g., Town Law § 151; Civil Service Law § 50(4)(d)).  Thus, a
fingerprint-based check is necessary for all police officer candidates
prior to an offer of appointment to ensure that such candidates are
authorized to access criminal history.

 BUDGET IMPLICATIONS :

The cost of fingerprinting would generally be borne by the applicant.
This could potentially result in increased revenue for the Division.

 LOCAL IMPACT :

None

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
Immediate.