Level II Screening

PINELLAS COUNTY SCHOOLS POLICE

 

GENERAL ORDER

DATE OF ISSUE                               EFFECTIVE DATE                           NUMBER

November 12, 2018                         November 12, 2018                       III-13

 

Distribution:    Chief, Sergeant, Investigations Clerks

 

Subject:           Level 2 Screening/Background Investigations for Contractors/Vendors
 

Procedures contained herein have been developed to define the process associated with the implementation of the “Jessica Lunsford Act” F.S. 1012.465

 

I.          Definitions

II.        Operations

III.       Appeals

 

I.          DEFINITIONS

 

Contractual person - any vendor, individual or entity under contract with the School Board.  If an entity does business with the School Board, then its employees and agents, including sub-contractual personnel, must meet the Level 2 background screening requirements if they:


            a.  are permitted access on school grounds when students are present or;
            b.  have direct contact with students or;
            c.  have access to or control of school funds

 

Conviction of a crime - For purposes of complying with this law, a conviction means that the person has been found guilty of, regardless of adjudication, or entered a plea of nolo contendere or guilty to the crime involving moral turpitude.  Persons who have an open/pending criminal case that may involve moral turpitude will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

 

Level 2 Screening - consists of taking a person’s fingerprints, followed by a statewide criminal and juvenile justice records check through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), and federal criminal records check through the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Level 2 screening may also include local criminal records checks through local law enforcement agencies.

 

Moral Turpitude - “Moral turpitude is a crime that is evidenced by an act of baseness, vileness or depravity in the private and social duties which, according to the accepted standards of the time a man owes to his or her fellow man or to society in general, and the doing of the act itself and not its prohibition by statute fixes the moral turpitude.” State Board of Education Rule 6B-4.009(6), F.A.C.  For example, the following crimes are considered to involve moral turpitude:

 

Any offense listed in F.S. 943.0435(1) (a) 1, relating to the registration of an individual as a sexual offender.

 

F.S. 393.135, relating to sexual misconduct with certain developmentally disabled clients and the reporting of such sexual misconduct.

 

F.S. 394.4593, relating to sexual misconduct with certain mental health patients and the reporting of such sexual misconduct.

 

F.S. 775.30, relating to terrorism.

 

F.S. 782.04, relating to murder.

 

F.S. 787.01, relating to kidnapping.

 

Any offense under F.S. Chapter 800, relating to lewdness and indecent exposure.

 

F.S. 826.04, relating to incest.

 

F.S. 827.03, relating to child abuse, aggravated child abuse, or neglect of a child.

 

 

CAUSE FOR REJECTION IF CONVICTION WAS WITHIN THE LAST 25 YEARS.  THE DISTRICT WILL CONSIDER THE APPLICANT AND CAREFULLY REVIEW THE CONVICTION IF IT WAS BEYOND 25 YEARS:  Felony crimes of violence not listed above and felony sale of controlled substances.

 

 

CAUSE FOR REJECTION IF CONVICTION WAS WITHIN THE LAST 10 YEARS.  THE DISTRICT WILL CONSIDER THE APPLICANT AND CAREFULLY REVIEW THE CONVICTION IF IT WAS BEYOND 10 YEARS:  Any felony crime which is not already listed, and any misdemeanor crime of a sexual nature, and misdemeanor crime related to children.

 

 

CASE BY CASE REVIEW:

 

Any misdemeanors, felony crimes involving worthless checks, and multiple convictions under any of the above listed will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

 
 

II. OPERATIONS
  

     A.  Obtaining A Florida Public Schools Contractor Badge
 

All fingerprinting and badge production for all contractors/vendors for Pinellas County Schools is outsourced to an outside company,  Fieldprint. All contractors/vendors will register through Fieldprint’s website http://fieldprintflorida.com/.  Fieldprint will fingerprint each individual and produce a badge after the Investigations Clerk clears the applicant.

 

     B.  Report Review

Pursuant to the user’s agreement with the FDLE and FBI, the results of the level 2 screening are confidential and may be used only for the purposes intended. Therefore, reports shall not be left where unauthorized persons might view them or abscond with them. In addition, passwords that allow access to confidential files shall not be shared, posted or otherwise made available to unauthorized persons.

 

          1.  Reports shall be reviewed by a sworn law enforcement officer or an Investigations Clerk assigned to the unit.

 
          2.  After the reports have been accessed at the FDLE secure website, they may be copied to the approved, password-protected file established for archiving these records.

 

          3.   Those applicants who have no criminal record, or those who have a conviction for an offense that would not constitute moral turpitude shall have an ID card produced (by Fieldprint) and mailed to the Pinellas County Schools Police department, also known as the “Central Distribution Center.” Once the badges are verified valid by the Investigations Clerks, an e-mail will be sent to the contractor/vendor notifying them the badge is ready to be picked up.  The e-mail will include the address to the police department, the hours of operation and the phone number to call to make an appointment to pick up the badge.

 
          4.  For those whose record reflects a conviction for an offense involving moral turpitude, they shall receive a letter indicating they have been rejected. This letter includes information if the applicant wishes to contest the accuracy of the report and information to appeal their rejection. Enclosed with the letter is a copy of the pertinent section of the FBI/FDLE report.

 
          5.  For those whose record is not clear (e.g. there is an arrest but no disposition, or the disposition is unclear), they shall receive a letter indicating they have been rejected pending clarification. The letter includes telephone numbers for the state and/or federal governments needed to assist.
 

          6.  For those whose returned record reads “Transaction Rejected by FBI,” they will be requested to return to the Fieldprint Service Center for a second fingerprinting at no charge to the individual.

 

                 a.  The “TCN” number from the first scan will be used for the second printing attempt, so no additional charge is required.
                     

 b.  If the second report also reads “Transaction Rejected by FBI,” the appropriate CJIS form will be completed and mailed to the FBI with  both of the TCN numbers noted;

 
1.  After the FBI completes their search, the results are faxed to Pinellas County Schools Police and the disposition will be handled as noted in sections 3, 4, & 5 above. 

 

          7.  Individuals whose rejected and/or rejected pending letters are returned by the Post Office will be contacted by e-mail and advised to  come to WPSC in person, with proper identification to retrieve their letter in person. The letter will be placed in a secure file until the applicant picks  up the letter.

 
          8.  For telephonic inquiries regarding the rejected or rejected pending status, the applicant cannot be provided with specific information since there is no way of confirming their identity.

 

a.  Depending on the issue at hand, (e.g. they complain that the rejectable charge was reduced to a charge that would not be  cause for rejection), they shall be instructed to obtain a certified or true copy from the clerk of the court of original jurisdiction and present it to the Investigation Clerks in person with proper identification.

 
 b.  If a general recommendation as noted in “a” above does not suffice, the applicant will be told that they will need to come into the office  to discuss the issue with the Investigations Clerk.  Note:  That upon arrival the applicant must provide identification so that you are aware with whom you are speaking with.

 
        9.   Applicants can obtain a copy of the report upon request.  However, they mustcomplete a form formally requesting a copy of the form.  After they have completed the written request, the form will be copied with a copy of identification (e.g. a driver’s license) on the copied form which will be filed.

 
        10.  All screening paperwork will be filed in alphabetical order using the name of the applicant. 

 
        11. Lost, stolen, or broken ID cards will be replaced for a $10 fee and must be ordered through the Fieldprint website.

 

C. Screening From Other Districts

 
1.  Persons who have had a background check in another district and are requesting clearance in Pinellas County shall be directed to Fieldprint’s web site and advised to apply as a Florida Shared School Results applicant also known as an FSSR applicant.  This would apply if they needed a Florida Public Schools Contractor Badge and the county where they were originally processed does not issue those badges, or they were processed in another county prior to the mandated issuance of the Florida Public Schools Contractors Badge but is more convenient to receive the badge from Pinellas County. 

 
2.  All requests will be entered in FDLE’s shared results website, also known as FSSR website, by a sworn law enforcement officer or an Investigations Clerk for review. This site purges names/records after five years.

 
3.  After the reports have been accessed at the FDLE FSSR website, they will be copied to the approved, password-protected file established for archiving these records.

 
a.  If the person’s criminal history was reviewed with no rejectable offenses, the Investigations Clerks will request Fieldprint to produce  their badge.

b.  If the person’s criminal record was not found because it had been purged after five years, they will need to be fingerprinted again and will be directed to Fieldprint’s web page so they can initiate the process.

c.  For those whose record reflects a conviction for an offense involving moral turpitude, a JLA Rejected letter will be mailed to their home, same as above in Section B, #4.

d.  For those whose record is not clear, the procedure outlined in Section B, #5 will be followed, though the person will be asked to come in person, with proper identification to provide true copies from the courts. 

 

           

III. APPEALS

 

Once a final determination has been made that the applicant has been convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude and the applicant wants to appeal, the applicant (or their attorney) shall be referred to:

 

                        Pinellas County School Board

                        Staff Attorney

                        301 4th Street SW

                        Largo, FL  33770

 

A.  If someone appeals the rejection, the Staff Attorney’s office will e-mail the Investigations Clerks requesting a complete copy of the criminal history.  The criminal history shall be scanned and emailed to the Staff Attorney’s office for the Appeals Committee to review. The Appeals committee meets once a month to review all appeals. 

 

 B.  If the Appeals Committee overturns the rejection, the applicant is mailed a letter from the Staff Attorney’s office with directions to contact the Schools Police Department to receive their badge.  A copy of that letter is placed in the applicant's file.
 

C.  If the rejection is upheld, a letter will be mailed to the applicant from the Staff Attorney’s office and a copy sent to the Pinellas County Schools Police Department.  A copy of that letter will be placed in the applicant's file. 
 

 

__________________

Luke C. Williams,

Chief of Police