HB 401 - AS INTRODUCED
2021 SESSION
21-0534
06/04
HOUSE BILL 401
AN ACT relative to the duty of school superintendents regarding criminal history records
checks.
SPONSORS: Rep. Mullen, Hills. 7; Rep. Allard, Merr. 21; Rep. Cornell, Hills. 18; Rep. M.
Murray, Hills. 22; Rep. Myler, Merr. 10; Rep. Tanner, Sull. 9; Rep. Woodcock,
Carr. 2
COMMITTEE: Education
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ANALYSIS
This bill:
I. Permits the designee of the superintendent of a school administrative unit to receive and
review a report of an applicant's criminal history and record information.
II. Requires the department of education to provide training in reading and interpreting
criminal history records.
III. Requires the superintendent or designee of a school administrative unit or the chief
executive officer of the chartered public school or public academy to complete training in reading and
interpreting criminal history records.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
 HB 401 - AS INTRODUCED
21-0534
06/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty One
AN ACT relative to the duty of school superintendents regarding criminal history records
checks.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 1 School Employee and Designated School Volunteer Criminal History Records Check. Amend
2 RSA 189:13-a, II and III to read as follows:
3 II. The selected applicant for employment or designated volunteer with a school
4 administrative unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy shall submit to the
5 employer a criminal history records release form, as provided by the division of state police, which
6 authorizes the division of state police to conduct a criminal history records check through its state
7 records and through the Federal Bureau of Investigation and to release, for the purposes of
8 paragraph V, a report of the applicant's criminal history and record information, including
9 confidential criminal history record information, to the superintendent or designee of the school
10 administrative unit or the chief executive officer of the chartered public school or public academy.
11 For the purposes of this section, a designee may be the assistant superintendent, the head
12 of human resources, the personnel director, the business administrator, or the finance
13 director. The applicant shall submit with the release form a complete set of fingerprints taken by a
14 qualified law enforcement agency or an authorized employee of the school administrative unit, school
15 district, chartered public school, or public academy. In the event that the first set of fingerprints is
16 invalid due to insufficient pattern and a second set of fingerprints is necessary in order to complete
17 the criminal history records check, the conditional offer of employment shall remain in effect. If,
18 after 2 attempts, a set of fingerprints is invalid due to insufficient pattern, the school administrative
19 unit, school district, chartered public school, or public academy may, in lieu of the criminal history
20 records check, accept police clearances from every city, town, or county where an applicant has lived
21 during the past 5 years.
22 III. The department of education, in conjunction with the department of safety,
23 shall conduct training concerning the reading and interpretation of criminal history
24 records. The superintendent or designee of the school administrative unit or the chief executive
25 officer of the chartered public school or public academy shall complete such training and shall
26 maintain the confidentiality of all criminal history records information received pursuant to this
27 paragraph. If the criminal history records information indicates no criminal record, the
28 superintendent or designee of the school administrative unit or the chief executive officer of the
29 chartered public school or public academy shall destroy the information received immediately
30 following review of the information. If the criminal history records information indicates that the
 HB 401 - AS INTRODUCED
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1 applicant has been convicted of any crime or has been charged pending disposition for or convicted of
2 a crime listed in paragraph V, the superintendent or designee of the school administrative unit or
3 the chief executive officer of the chartered public school or public academy shall review the
4 information for a hiring decision, and the division of state police shall notify the department of
5 education of any such charges pending disposition or convictions. The superintendent or designee
6 of the school administrative unit or the chief executive officer of the chartered public school or public
7 academy shall destroy any criminal history record information that indicates a criminal record
8 within 60 days of receiving such information.
9 2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.


Statutes affected:
Ought to Pass: 189:13-a
latest version: 189:13-a