Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

LEGISLATIVE SERVICES AGENCY
                OFFICE OF FISCAL AND MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS
                                     200 W. Washington St., Suite 301
                                          Indianapolis, IN 46204
                                              (317) 233-0696
                                                 iga.in.gov
                                FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
LS 6389                                                            NOTE PREPARED: Dec 2, 2020
BILL NUMBER: HB 1052                                               BILL AMENDED:
SUBJECT: Criminal Background Checks.
FIRST AUTHOR: Rep. Thompson                                        BILL STATUS: As Introduced
FIRST SPONSOR:
FUNDS AFFECTED: X GENERAL                                          IMPACT: State & Local
                X DEDICATED
                  FEDERAL
Summary of Legislation: This bill amends criminal background check requirements in numerous provisions
throughout the Indiana Code to uniformly require an expanded criminal history check. It also requires the
State Police Department or a law enforcement agency to refund a fee collected for release or inspection of
an individual's limited criminal history if the State Police Department or the law enforcement agency is
unable to provide any information regarding the individual's history of arrest or criminal charges. It makes
technical corrections.
Effective Date: July 1, 2021.
Explanation of State Expenditures: Expanded Criminal History Check- This bill makes all statutorily-
required background checks “expanded criminal history checks” as defined in IC 20-26-2-1.5. The Indiana
State Police (ISP) requires the subject of each expanded check to be fingerprinted by a third-party vendor,
which costs $11.95, but does not affect any of the other costs associated with the check. This change will
result in a slight increase in workload for the ISP, but should be able to be implemented with no additional
appropriations, assuming near customary agency staffing and resource levels.
Refunds- This provision will create an increase in workload for the ISP. The requirements are within the
ISP’s routine administrative functions and should be able to be implemented with no additional
appropriations, assuming near customary agency staffing and resource levels.
Additional Information: ISP does not currently refund fees for record checks that return inconclusive results.
The ISP system used for non-fingerprint checks cross-references names and dates, which can be errant
(inaccurately entered) or false (inaccurate information provided). Results are considered inconclusive if the
HB 1052                                               1
presence of errant or false information makes it unclear whether the records returned accurately reflect the
record of the person for whom the request is made. Approximately 15% of requests completed return
inconclusive results.
Explanation of State Revenues: Refunds- This bill will decrease revenue from limited criminal history
checks. Criminal history checks generate approximately $4 M in revenue annually, and approximately 15%
of them return inconclusive results, resulting in a loss of approximately $600,000 in revenue annually under
the refund provision of this bill.
Expanded Criminal History Check- There is likely to be a decrease in limited checks due to this bill’s
provisions requiring that an expanded criminal history check be conducted on people applying for certain
jobs, licenses or volunteer positions. Current law requires only a limited check for these instances. Because
expanded criminal history checks do not produce inconclusive results, these provisions are likely to reduce
the losses incurred due to the refund provision of this bill. It is unknown what percentage of limited checks
currently conducted annually are conducted to meet statutory requirements.
Additional Information: Fees charged for requests filed online are split between the General Fund and the
Indiana Office of Technology Portal Fund.
Explanation of Local Expenditures: Expanded Criminal History Check- Some of the jobs and volunteer
positions that will be affected by the change from limited to expanded checks are positions with local units.
To the extent that local units cover the expenses associated with these background checks, they will see an
increase of $11.95 per applicant to cover the fingerprinting fee. This increase should be within the capacity
of all affected units.
Refunds- This bill will create an increase in workload for local police departments who conduct criminal
history checks. The bill’s requirements should be within each department’s routine administrative functions
and should be able to be implemented with no additional appropriations, assuming near customary agency
staffing and resource levels.
Explanation of Local Revenues: Refunds- This bill will decrease revenue generated for local police by
limited criminal history checks by approximately 15%. It is unknown how much total revenue is generated
by checks initiated at the local level. This reduction is unlikely to be significant for most departments.
State Agencies Affected: Indiana State Police; Indiana Office of Technology.
Local Agencies Affected: Local police departments.
Information Sources: Eric Wandersee, ISP; Legislative Services Agency, Indiana Handbook of Taxes,
Revenues, and Appropriations, FY 2020.
Fiscal Analyst: Alexander Raggio, 317-234-9485.
HB 1052                                              2
Statutes affected: 
1. Introduced House Bill (H): 4-13-19-4, 8-1-34-30, 8-2.1-19.1-5, 9-32-16-11, 10-13-3-30, 12-10-17.1-12, 15-15-13-7, 15-15-13-8, 16-18-4-4, 16-25-6-3, 16-27-2-4, 16-27-2-5, 20-47-6-9, 21-18.5-6-11, 22-1-5-13, 24-7-8-5, 25-1-1.1-4, 25-1-1.1-6, 25-1-17-8, 25-21.8-4-2, 25-21.8-4-6, 25-21.8-5-1, 25-26-14-16, 25-26-14-17.8, 25-27-1-6.1, 25-27-1-6.2, 25-27-1-6.3, 25-27-1-6.4, 25-34.1-8-10, 28-1-2-23, 28-1-29-3, 28-7-5-4, 28-8-4-20, 28-8-5-12, 28-11-5-4.5, 36-12-1-14