Fairness and Accuracy in Employment Background Checks Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2851 To provide safeguards with respect to the Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal background checks prepared for employment purposes, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 20, 2019 Mr. SCOTT of Virginia (for himself, Mr. NADLER, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. NOR- TON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. TRONE, Mr. RUSH, Mr. CA´RDENAS, and Mr. RASKIN) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide safeguards with respect to the Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal background checks prepared for employment purposes, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fairness and Accuracy 4 in Employment Background Checks Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. SAFEGUARDS FOR BACKGROUND CHECKS. 6 The Attorney General shall establish and enforce pro- 7 cedures to ensure the prompt release of accurate records 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:28 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2851 IH and information exchanged for employment-related pur- 1 poses through the records system created under section 2 534 of title 28, United States Code. 3 SEC. 3. REQUIRED PROCEDURES. 4 The procedures established under section 2 shall in- 5 clude the following: 6 (1) INACCURATE RECORD OR INFORMATION.—If 7 the Attorney General determines that a record or in- 8 formation is inaccurate, the Attorney General shall 9 promptly correct that record or information or, if 10 appropriate, promptly make any changes or deletions 11 to that record or information. 12 (2) INCOMPLETE RECORD OR INFORMATION.— 13 (A) If the Attorney General determines 14 that a record or information is incomplete or 15 cannot be verified, the Attorney General shall 16 attempt to complete or verify the record or in- 17 formation, and if the Attorney General is un- 18 able to do so, the Attorney General may 19 promptly make any changes or deletions to the 20 record or information. 21 (B) For the purposes of this paragraph, an 22 incomplete record or information includes a 23 record or information that indicates there was 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:28 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2851 IH an arrest and does not include the disposition 1 of that arrest. 2 (C) If the record or information is an in- 3 complete record or information described in 4 subparagraph (B), the Attorney General shall, 5 not later than 10 days after the requesting enti- 6 ty requests the exchange and before the ex- 7 change is made, obtain the disposition (if any) 8 of the arrest. 9 (3) NOTIFICATION OF REPORTING JURISDIC- 10 TION.—The Attorney General shall notify each ap- 11 propriate reporting jurisdiction of any action taken 12 under paragraph (1) or (2). 13 (4) OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW RECORDS OR IN- 14 FORMATION BY APPLICANT.—In connection with an 15 exchange of such a record or information, the Attor- 16 ney General shall— 17 (A) obtain the consent of the applicant to 18 exchange the record or information with the re- 19 questing entity; 20 (B) at the time of consent, notify the ap- 21 plicant that the applicant can obtain a copy of 22 the record or information; 23 (C) provide to the applicant an opportunity 24 to obtain a copy of the record or information 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:28 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2851 IH upon request and to challenge the accuracy and 1 completeness of that record or information; 2 (D) promptly notify the requesting entity 3 of any such challenge; 4 (E) not later than 30 days after the chal- 5 lenge is made, complete an investigation of the 6 challenge; 7 (F) provide to the applicant the specific 8 findings and results of that investigation; 9 (G) promptly make any changes or dele- 10 tions to the records or information required as 11 a result of the challenge; and 12 (H) report those changes to the requesting 13 entity. 14 (5) CERTAIN EXCHANGES PROHIBITED.—An ex- 15 change shall not include any record or information— 16 (A) about an arrest more than one-year-old 17 as of the date of the request for the exchange, 18 that does not also include a disposition (if any) 19 of that arrest; 20 (B) relating to an adult or juvenile non-se- 21 rious offense of the sort described in section 22 20.32(b) of title 28, Code of Federal Regula- 23 tions, as in effect on July 1, 2009; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:28 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2851 IH (C) to the extent the record or information 1 is not clearly an arrest or a disposition of an 2 arrest. 3 SEC. 4. FEES. 4 The Attorney General may collect reasonable fees for 5 all exchanges of records or information for employment- 6 related purposes through the records system created under 7 section 534 of title 28, United States Code, to defray the 8 costs associated with exchanges for those purposes, includ- 9 ing any costs associated with the investigation of inac- 10 curate or incomplete records or information. 11 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS ON REASONABLE PROCEDURES. 12 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 13 of this Act, the Attorney General shall issue regulations 14 to carry out this Act. 15 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORTS ON PROCEDURES. 16 For each of the first 3 years beginning after the date 17 of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall sub- 18 mit an annual report to Congress that includes— 19 (1) the number of exchanges of records or in- 20 formation for employment-related purposes made 21 with entities in each State through the records sys- 22 tem created under section 534 of title 28, United 23 States Code; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:28 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2851 IH (2) appropriate statistical information to deter- 1 mine whether the exchange of records or information 2 about arrests that did not result in convictions is af- 3 fecting the employment opportunities of employees 4 to whom those records or information pertain; 5 (3) any prolonged failure of a reporting juris- 6 diction to comply with a request by the Attorney 7 General for information about dispositions of ar- 8 rests; 9 (4) the percent of missing arrest dispositions lo- 10 cated within the time limit required by this Act; and 11 (5) the numbers of successful and unsuccessful 12 challenges to the accuracy and completeness of 13 records or information, by the State where the 14 records and information originated. 15 SEC. 7. REPORT ON STATUTORY AND REGULATORY RE- 16 STRICTIONS AND DISQUALIFICATIONS BASED 17 ON CRIMINAL RECORDS. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 19 date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 20 shall report to Congress on all Federal statutes, regula- 21 tions, and policies providing employment restrictions and 22 disqualifications based on criminal records. 23 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF INFORMATION.—In the re- 24 port, the Attorney General shall identify each occupation 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:28 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2851 IH or position to which such restrictions or disqualifications 1 apply, and for each such occupation or position, include— 2 (1) a description of the restriction or disquali- 3 fication; 4 (2) the duration of the restriction or disquali- 5 fication; 6 (3) an evaluation of the rationale for the re- 7 striction or disqualification and its continuing use- 8 fulness; 9 (4) the procedures, if any, to appeal, waive or 10 exempt the restriction or disqualification based on a 11 showing of rehabilitation or other relevant evidence; 12 (5) any information available about the num- 13 bers of individuals restricted or disqualified on the 14 basis of a criminal record; and 15 (6) the identity of the Federal agency with ju- 16 risdiction over the restriction or disqualification. 17 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 18 In this Act— 19 (1) the term ‘‘for employment-related purposes’’ 20 includes for the purpose of screening an individual 21 for employment or occupational licensing; 22 (2) the term ‘‘applicant’’ means the person to 23 whom the record or information sought to be ex- 24 changed pertains; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:28 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2851 IH (3) the term ‘‘requesting entity’’ means the per- 1 son or entity seeking the exchange of records or in- 2 formation; 3 (4) the term ‘‘State’’ includes the District of 4 Columbia, Puerto Rico, and each other territory and 5 possession of the United States; and 6 (5) the term ‘‘reporting jurisdiction’’ includes 7 any person or entity that provides relevant records 8 and information to the Attorney General under sec- 9 tion 534 of title 28, United States Code. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:28 Jun 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2851.IH H2851 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS