33-2-1201 - Department employees, volunteers and applicants to submit to background check and fingerprinting. - Tennessee Statutes

33-2-1201. Department employees, volunteers and applicants to submit to background check and fingerprinting.

(a)  To help the department determine the suitability of a person for volunteer services or employment and verify the accuracy of information submitted in support of an application to work for the department, any person who applies to work for the department as an employee, or any volunteer, whose function would include direct contact with or direct responsibility for persons with mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, or developmental disabilities shall:

     (1)  Agree to the release of all investigative records about the person from any source, including federal, state and local governments; and

     (2)  Supply a fingerprint sample for the conduct of a criminal background investigation by the Tennessee bureau of investigation. If no disqualifying record is identified, the bureau shall send the fingerprints to the federal bureau of investigation for a national criminal history record check.

(b)  The department shall pay the costs for conducting any investigation under this section.

[Acts 1996, ch. 993, § 1; 1997, ch. 305, § 1; 1999, ch. 466, § 1; T.C.A. § 33-1-209(a), (b); Acts 2000, ch. 947, § 1; 2004, ch. 565, § 11.]