Bill Text: VA SB169 | 2024 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Virginia Rap Back Service; criminal history record monitoring.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-03-20 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0117) [SB169 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-SB169-Chaptered.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §52-46 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§52-46. Virginia Rap Back Service; criminal history record monitoring; maintenance; dissemination; penalty.
A. The Department of State Police, through the Virginia Record
of Arrest and Prosecution (Rap) Back Service, shall participate in the Federal
Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Next Generation Identification (NGI) Rap Back
Service. The purpose of the Virginia Rap Back Service shall be to allow
governmental entities that require a fingerprint-based criminal background
check as a condition of (i) providing care to (a) children, (b) the disabled,
or (c) the elderly or (ii) (a) licensure, (b) certification, (c) employment, or
(d) volunteer service to be advised when an individual subject to such
screening is the subject of a Rap Back notification event including being
arrested for, or convicted of, a criminal offense. The Department is authorized
to submit fingerprints and accompanying records to the FBI to be retained in
and advised through the FBI's NGI Rap Back Service when an enrolled
individual is arrested for, or convicted of, a criminal offense.
Fingerprints submitted to the FBI may be used for future searches, including
latent searches.
B. As used in this section:
"Individual" means any person who has submitted to a fingerprint-based background check in order to (i) care for (a) children, (b) the disabled, or (c) the elderly or (ii) (a) be licensed, (b) be certified, (c) be employed, or (d) perform volunteer service with a participating entity and who has been enrolled by that participating entity in the Virginia Rap Back Service.
"Participating entity" means a governmental entity that requires a fingerprint-based background check as a condition of (i) caring for (a) children, (b) the disabled, or (c) the elderly or (ii) (a) licensure, (b) certification, (c) employment, or (d) volunteer service and that has elected to enroll individuals in the Virginia Rap Back Service.
C. The Department of State Police shall ensure that
notification is made forthwith to the participating entity that enrolls an
individual in the Virginia Rap Back Service when an FBI Rap Back report
notification is received. The information contained in the notification
shall be used by the participating entity for purposes of determining the
eligibility of the continued service of the individual and shall not be further
disseminated.
D. Use of the information submitted to the Virginia Rap Back Service for purposes not authorized by this section is prohibited, and a willful violation of this section with the intent to harass or intimidate another shall be punished as a Class 1 misdemeanor.
E. No liability shall be imposed upon any law-enforcement official who disseminates information or fails to disseminate information in good faith compliance with the requirements of this section, but this provision shall not be construed to grant immunity for gross negligence or willful misconduct.
F. The Department of State Police shall promulgate regulations
governing the operation and maintenance of the Virginia Rap Back Service and
the removal and destruction of records on individuals who are deceased or who
are no longer individuals as defined in this section. Such regulations shall
provide that a participating entity shall disenroll any individual who is
deceased or is no longer an individual as defined in this section within 30
five business days of death or such event that no longer requires such
individual to be enrolled in the Virginia Rap Back Service, in order to ensure
the prompt removal and destruction of records from the Virginia Rap Back
Service.
G. The Department of State Police may charge an annual fee not
to exceed $12 per individual enrolled in the Virginia Rap Back Service. The fee
shall be paid by any participating entity enrolling an individual in the
Virginia Rap Back Service. An individual who moves from one participating
entity to another need not be reprinted. When more than one participating
entity enrolls the same individual in the Virginia Rap Back Service, both
participating entities shall be responsible for paying the full cost for maintenance
and notification. Any fees collected shall be deposited in a special account to
be used to offset the costs of subscription fees, maintenance fees, and
enhancements related to the Criminal and Rap Back Information System.
H. The Department of State Police shall make the Virginia Rap Back Service available no later than July 1, 2025, unless funds necessary to develop and operate the Virginia Rap Back Service are unavailable.
I. No participating entity authorized to submit fingerprints shall be considered negligent per se in a civil action solely because the entity elected not to enroll an individual in the Virginia Rap Back Service pursuant to this section.
