Bill Text: NJ S3329 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Increases fee for processing fingerprint criminal history record background checks.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-06-26 - Reported from Senate Committee, 2nd Reading [S3329 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-S3329-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator STEPHEN M. SWEENEY
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
SYNOPSIS
Increases fee for processing fingerprint criminal history record background checks.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning criminal history record background checks and amending P.L.1985, c.69.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 2 of P.L.1985, c.69 (C.53:1-20.6) is amended to read as follows:
2. a. The Superintendent of State Police, with the approval of the Attorney General, shall, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), adopt rules and regulations authorizing the dissemination, by the State Bureau of Identification, of criminal history record background information requested by State, county, and local government agencies, including the Division of State Police, in noncriminal matters, or requested by individuals, nongovernmental entities, or other governmental entities whose access to [such] this criminal history record background information is not prohibited by law. A fee not to exceed [$30] $45 shall be imposed for processing fingerprint identification checks; a fee not to exceed $18 shall be imposed for processing criminal history name search identification checks. These fees shall be in addition to any other fees required by law. In addition to any fee specified [herein] in this section, a nonrefundable fee, the amount of which shall be determined by the [Superintendent of State Police] superintendent, with the approval of the Attorney General, shall be collected to cover the cost of securing and processing a federal criminal records check for each applicant.
b. State, county, and local government agencies, including the Division of State Police, and nongovernmental entities are authorized to impose and collect the processing fee established pursuant to subsection a. of this section from the person for whom the criminal history record background check is being processed or from the party requesting the criminal history record background check. The [Superintendent of State Police] superintendent shall provide this processing service without the collection of fees from the applicants in processing background checks of prospective resource family parents or members of their immediate families. In [such] these cases, the Department of Children and Families shall be responsible for paying the fees imposed pursuant to subsection a. of this section. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the [Superintendent of State Police] superintendent, with the approval of the Attorney General, from providing this processing service without the collection of fees from the applicant in other circumstances which in [his] the superintendent's sole discretion [he] the superintendent deems appropriate, if the applicants would not receive a wage or salary for the time and services they provide to an organization or who are considered volunteers. In those circumstances where the [Superintendent of State Police] superintendent, with the approval of the Attorney General, determines to provide this processing service without the collection of fees to the individual applicants, the superintendent may assess the fees for providing this service on behalf of the applicants to any department of State, county, or municipal government which is responsible for operating or overseeing that volunteer program. The agencies shall transfer all moneys collected for the processing fee to the Division of State Police.
(cf: P.L.2006, c.47, s.200)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill increases the fee charged by the State Police to process a State criminal history record background fingerprint check. The fee currently is $30. The bill increases the fee to $45.
Information regarding a person's criminal history may be released to governmental entities and private citizens and entities in certain noncriminal justice matters, including conducting background investigations for employment or licensing. The State Bureau of Identification (SBI) in the Division of State Police is responsible for disseminating criminal history record information for noncriminal justice purposes. Criminal history record information collected by criminal justice agencies and stored in computerized databases includes descriptions of arrests, indictments or other formal charges and disposition of charges, such as convictions, dismissals or acquittals, the sentence imposed, and correctional and release information. The SBI processes requests of authorized persons by cross-referencing the fingerprints or the name of the subject of the check with the fingerprints or names stored in computerized databases to determine if the subject has a criminal history.
Under the bill, the fee for this fingerprint check is increased from $30 to $45. This fee has not been increased since 2003, while the administrative costs of conducting these background checks have increasingly risen over this period.
