245C.05 BACKGROUND STUDY; INFORMATION AND DATA PROVIDED TO
COMMISSIONER.
Subdivision 1.
Individual studied. (a) The individual who is the subject of the background
study must provide the applicant, license holder, or other entity under section
245C.04 with
sufficient information to ensure an accurate study, including:
(1) the individual's first, middle, and last name and all other names by which the individual
has been known;
(2) home address, city, and state of residence;
(3) zip code;
(4) sex;
(5) date of birth; and
(6) Minnesota driver's license number or state identification number.
(b) Every subject of a background study conducted or initiated by counties or private
agencies under this chapter must also provide the home address, city, county, and state of
residence for the past five years.
(c) Every subject of a background study related to private agency adoptions or related to
child foster care licensed through a private agency, who is 18 years of age or older, shall also
provide the commissioner a signed consent for the release of any information received from
national crime information databases to the private agency that initiated the background study.
(d) The subject of a background study shall provide fingerprints as required in subdivision 5,
paragraph (c).
Subd. 2.
Applicant, license holder, or other entity. The applicant, license holder, or other
entities as provided in this chapter shall provide the information collected under subdivision 1
about an individual who is the subject of the background study on forms or in a format prescribed
by the commissioner.
Subd. 2a.
County or private agency. For background studies related to child foster care,
county and private agencies must collect the information under subdivision 1 and forward it
to the commissioner.
Subd. 3.
Additional information from individual studied. (a) For purposes of completing
the background study, the commissioner may request the individual's Social Security number or
race. The individual is not required to provide this information to the commissioner.
(b) The commissioner may also require additional information if the commissioner
determines the information is necessary to complete the background study. Failure to provide the
required information may result in a disqualification pursuant to section
245C.09.
Subd. 4.
Electronic transmission. For background studies conducted by the Department of
Human Services, the commissioner shall implement a system for the electronic transmission of:
(1) background study information to the commissioner;
(2) background study results to the license holder; and
(3) background study results to county and private agencies for background studies
conducted by the commissioner for child foster care.
Subd. 5.
Fingerprints. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (c), for any background study
completed under this chapter, when the commissioner has reasonable cause to believe that further
pertinent information may exist on the subject of the background study, the subject shall provide
the commissioner with a set of classifiable fingerprints obtained from an authorized agency.
(b) For purposes of requiring fingerprints, the commissioner has reasonable cause when,
but not limited to, the:
(1) information from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension indicates that the subject is a
multistate offender;
(2) information from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension indicates that multistate offender
status is undetermined; or
(3) commissioner has received a report from the subject or a third party indicating that the
subject has a criminal history in a jurisdiction other than Minnesota.
(c) Except as specified under section
245C.04, subdivision 1, paragraph (d), for background
studies conducted by the commissioner for child foster care or adoptions, the subject of the
background study, who is 18 years of age or older, shall provide the commissioner with a set of
classifiable fingerprints obtained from an authorized agency.
Subd. 6.
Applicant, license holder, other entities, and agencies. (a) The applicant, license
holder, other entities as provided in this chapter, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, commissioner
of health, and county agencies shall help with the study by giving the commissioner criminal
conviction data and reports about the maltreatment of adults substantiated under section
626.557
and the maltreatment of minors substantiated under section
626.556.
(b) If a background study is initiated by an applicant, license holder, or other entities as
provided in this chapter, and the applicant, license holder, or other entity receives information
about the possible criminal or maltreatment history of an individual who is the subject of the
background study, the applicant, license holder, or other entity must immediately provide the
information to the commissioner.
(c) The program or county or other agency must provide written notice to the individual who
is the subject of the background study of the requirements under this subdivision.
Subd. 7.
Probation officer and corrections agent. (a) A probation officer or corrections
agent shall notify the commissioner of an individual's conviction if the individual is:
(1) affiliated with a program or facility regulated by the Department of Human Services
or Department of Health, a facility serving children or youth licensed by the Department of
Corrections, or any type of home care agency or provider of personal care assistance services; and
(2) convicted of a crime constituting a disqualification under section
245C.14.
(b) For the purpose of this subdivision, "conviction" has the meaning given it in section
609.02, subdivision 5.
(c) The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of corrections, shall develop
forms and information necessary to implement this subdivision and shall provide the forms
and information to the commissioner of corrections for distribution to local probation officers
and corrections agents.
(d) The commissioner shall inform individuals subject to a background study that criminal
convictions for disqualifying crimes will be reported to the commissioner by the corrections
system.
(e) A probation officer, corrections agent, or corrections agency is not civilly or criminally
liable for disclosing or failing to disclose the information required by this subdivision.
(f) Upon receipt of disqualifying information, the commissioner shall provide the notice
required under section
245C.17, as appropriate, to agencies on record as having initiated a
background study or making a request for documentation of the background study status of
the individual.
(g) This subdivision does not apply to family child care programs.
History: 2003 c 15 art 1 s 5; 1Sp2003 c 14 art 6 s 5; 2004 c 288 art 1 s 41-44; 2007 c
112 s 27; 2007 c 147 art 3 s 7-11