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Lawmakers, providers press for faster criminal-background checks; BCI cites IT limits and federal timeline
Summary
Senate Bill 2194 would require the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation to accept digital fingerprints and includes a $5 million appropriation to expand processing; childcare providers and insurers urged speedier turnarounds while BCI said existing projects and security constraints limit immediate expansion.
Senator Judy Lee, sponsor of Senate Bill 2194, told the Workforce Development Committee she wants the Bureau of Criminal Investigation to accept digital fingerprints and speed processing of criminal-history checks for job applicants.
"Without digital fingerprints being available to BCI, it's a very slow turnaround," Senator Judy Lee said as she opened the hearing on the bill.
The bill proposes that BCI accept digital fingerprint submissions and includes an appropriation request intended to help the agency update systems to process digital submissions more broadly. Supporters said the change would shorten wait times for job applicants in childcare, long-term care and other licensed professions and help employers hire quickly in a tight labor market.
"It's that gap. We can interview and everything, but then we wait for the background check," said Bill Baumann, chief executive officer of the Missouri Valley Family YMCA and spokesperson for the North Dakota Alliance of YMCA. Baumann told senators his organizations see average turnaround…
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