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                                                       PRINTER'S NO. 836

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA


SENATE BILL

No. 759 Session of 2007


        INTRODUCED BY KASUNIC, O'PAKE, LAVALLE, HUGHES, COSTA, BOSCOLA,
           ERICKSON, FERLO, FONTANA, GREENLEAF, KITCHEN, LOGAN, MUSTO,
           PUNT, RHOADES, STOUT, TARTAGLIONE, WASHINGTON, WAUGH,
           D. WHITE AND C. WILLIAMS, APRIL 12, 2007

        REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, APRIL 12, 2007

                                     AN ACT

     1  Amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania
     2     Consolidated Statutes, further providing for fees for
     3     background checks.

     4     The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
     5  hereby enacts as follows:
     6     Section 1.  Section 9121 of Title 18 of the Pennsylvania
     7  Consolidated Statutes is amended to read:
     8  § 9121.  General regulations.
     9     (a)  Dissemination to criminal justice agencies.--Criminal
    10  history record information maintained by any criminal justice
    11  agency shall be disseminated without charge to any criminal
    12  justice agency or to any noncriminal justice agency that is
    13  providing a service for which a criminal justice agency is
    14  responsible.
    15     (b)  Dissemination to noncriminal justice agencies and
    16  individuals.--Criminal history record information shall be
    17  disseminated by a State or local police department to any


     1  individual or noncriminal justice agency only upon request.
     2  Except as provided in subsection (b.1):
     3         (1)  A fee may be charged by a State or local police
     4     department for each request for criminal history record
     5     information by an individual or noncriminal justice agency,
     6     except that no fee shall be charged to an individual who
     7     makes the request in order to apply to become a volunteer
     8     firefighter as defined in section 2 of the act of June 11,
     9     1968 (P.L.149, No.84), known as the Volunteer Firefighters'
    10     Relief Association Act, or a volunteer with an affiliate of
    11     Big Brothers of America or Big Sisters of America or with a
    12     rape crisis center or domestic violence program.
    13         (2)  Before a State or local police department
    14     disseminates criminal history record information to an
    15     individual or noncriminal justice agency, it shall extract
    16     from the record all notations of arrests, indictments or
    17     other information relating to the initiation of criminal
    18     proceedings where:
    19             (i)  three years have elapsed from the date of
    20         arrest;
    21             (ii)  no conviction has occurred; and
    22             (iii)  no proceedings are pending seeking a
    23         conviction.
    24     (b.1)  Exception.--Subsection (b)(1) and (2) shall not apply
    25  if the request is made by a county children and youth agency or
    26  the Department of Public Welfare in the performance of duties
    27  relating to children and youth under the act of June 24, 1937
    28  (P.L.2017, No.396), known as the County Institution District
    29  Law, section 2168 of the act of August 9, 1955 (P.L.323,
    30  No.130), known as The County Code, the act of June 13, 1967
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     1  (P.L.31, No.21), known as the Public Welfare Code, 23 Pa.C.S.
     2  Ch. 63 (relating to child protective services) or 42 Pa.C.S. Ch.
     3  63 (relating to juvenile matters).
     4     (c)  Data required to be kept.--Any criminal justice agency
     5  which disseminates criminal history record information must
     6  indicate to the recipient that the information disseminated is
     7  only that information contained in its own file, the date of the
     8  last entry, and that a summary of the Statewide criminal history
     9  record information may be obtained from the central repository.
    10     (d)  Extracting from the record.--When criminal history
    11  record information is maintained by a criminal justice agency in
    12  records containing investigative information, intelligence
    13  information, treatment information or other nonpublic
    14  information, the agency may extract and disseminate only the
    15  criminal history record information if the dissemination is to
    16  be made to a noncriminal justice agency or individual.
    17     (e)  Dissemination procedures.--Criminal justice agencies may
    18  establish reasonable procedures for the dissemination of
    19  criminal history record information.
    20     (f)  Notations on record.--Repositories must enter as a
    21  permanent part of an individual's criminal history record
    22  information file, a listing of all persons and agencies to whom
    23  they have disseminated that particular criminal history record
    24  information and the date and purpose for which the information
    25  was disseminated. Such listing shall be maintained separate from
    26  the record itself.
    27     Section 2.  This act shall take effect immediately.


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