Georgia § 34-2-15 - Criminal background checks; fees; contracting for services; exclusive use for employment.

§ 34-2-15. Criminal background checks; fees; contracting for services; exclusive use for employment.

As used in this Code section, the term: "Criminal background check" means a search of the criminal records maintained by GCIC and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine whether an individual has a criminal record. "Criminal record" means any of the following: A conviction of a crime; An arrest, charge, and sentencing for a crime when: A plea of nolo contendere was entered to the charge; First offender treatment without adjudication of guilt pursuant to the charge was granted; or Adjudication or sentence was otherwise withheld or not entered on the charge; or An arrest and charge for a crime if the charge is pending, unless the time for prosecuting such crime has expired pursuant to Chapter 3 of Title 17. "Direct access" means having, or expecting to have, duties that involve contact with or review of certain information. "Federal return information" shall have the same meaning as provided for the term "return information" in 26 U.S.C. Section 6103. "GCIC" means the Georgia Crime Information Center established under Article 2 of Chapter 3 of Title 35. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, beginning July 1, 2019, the Commissioner of Labor shall have the authority to require a criminal background check of any individual employed by or performing work for the Department of Labor or applying for employment with the Department of Labor and shall require a criminal background check of any such individual with direct access to federal return information as part of his or her job duties pursuant to the following: All such individuals shall be required upon request of the Commissioner of Labor to furnish fingerprints in such form and of such quality as GCIC and the Federal Bureau of Investigation deem acceptable for submission; Upon receipt of such fingerprints, GCIC shall search its own records and promptly transmit such fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a search of the bureau's records. GCIC shall notify the Department of Labor in writing of any criminal record or if there is no such finding; and The Commissioner of Labor shall make a determination regarding the employment of an individual and the nature of his or her job responsibilities after reviewing the results of such individual's criminal background check. An individual who has submitted fingerprints pursuant to this Code section may request an inspection, modification, correction, or supplementation of his or her criminal record information pursuant to Code Section 35-3-37, if he or she believes such information to be inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading. The Department of Labor shall perform criminal background checks either under agreement with GCIC or contract with GCIC and the appropriate law enforcement agencies which have access to GCIC and Federal Bureau of Investigation information to have such agencies perform criminal background checks for the Department of Labor. The Department of Labor and such appropriate law enforcement agencies may charge reasonable fees for performing criminal background checks. If the Department of Labor is participating in the federal program described in subparagraph (a)(1)(F) of Code Section 35-3-33, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall be authorized to retain fingerprints obtained pursuant to this Code section for such program and the Department of Labor shall notify the individual whose fingerprints were taken of the parameters of such retention. Neither GCIC, the Commissioner of Labor, the Department of Labor, any law enforcement agency, nor the employees of the Commissioner of Labor or any such entities shall be responsible for the accuracy of information nor have any liability for defamation, invasion of privacy, negligence, or any other claim provided in connection with any dissemination of information or determination based thereon pursuant to this Code section. All information received from GCIC or the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall be privileged, shall be used exclusively for purposes of employment, and shall not be released or otherwise disclosed to any other person or agency except to any person or agency which otherwise has a legal right to inspect the employment file. All such information collected by the Department of Labor shall be maintained by the Department of Labor pursuant to applicable laws and rules or regulations of GCIC and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Penalties for the unauthorized release or disclosure of any such information shall be as prescribed pursuant to applicable laws and rules or regulations of GCIC and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (Code 1981, § 34-2-15 , enacted by Ga. L. 2019, p. 527, § 2/HB 373.) Effective date. - This Code section became effective May 6, 2019.