HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 25        FILED ON: 1/23/2017

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 25

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)

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An Act relative to enhancing Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission background checks.

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to establish forthwith enhanced background checks for alcohol licenses, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public safety.
 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Chapter 138 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 70 the following section:-

Section 70A. (1) As part of the commission’s licensure and background record check process, the commission shall conduct fingerprint-based checks of the state and national criminal history databases pursuant to this chapter before approving any license under sections 12 and 15 under this chapter. Said fingerprint-based checks shall be conducted on any individual applicant, any individual with a direct or indirect beneficial interest in any partnership that is an applicant, any individual with a direct or indirect beneficial interest in any corporation that is an applicant including, but not limited to, any individual who is an officer, director, or stockholder in the corporate applicant, any individual with a direct or indirect beneficial interest in any limited liability company that is an applicant including, but not limited to, any individual who is a member or manager of a limited liability company that is an applicant, and the individual seeking approval to be the license manager required by section 26 of this chapter. Provisions of this section shall not apply to stockholders of a corporation whose stock is listed for sale to the general public with the securities and exchange commission and who hold less than ten per cent of the outstanding stock entitled to vote at the annual meeting of said corporation. The commission shall endeavor to avoid duplicating similar investigations by local licensing authorities. When local licensing authorities do conduct such fingerprint-based checks, the local licensing authorities may appropriately disseminate to the commission all criminal offender record information and the results of checks of state and national criminal information databases, pursuant to this chapter, in accordance with the law.

Authorized commission staff may receive and appropriately disseminate all criminal offender record information and the results of checks of state and national criminal information databases, pursuant to this chapter in accordance with the law. When the commission obtains the results of checks of state and national criminal information databases, it shall treat such information in keeping with the provisions of sections 167 through 178, inclusive, of chapter 6 and the regulations thereto, regarding criminal offender record information.

(2) As part of the commission’s licensure and background record check process, the commission may conduct fingerprint-based checks of the state and national criminal history databases , pursuant to this chapter before issuing any license under this chapter that is not a license under section 12 or section 15. Authorized commission staff may receive and appropriately disseminate all criminal offender record information and the results of checks of state and national criminal information databases in accordance with the law. When the commission obtains the results of checks of state and national criminal information databases, it shall treat such information in keeping with the provisions of sections 167 through 178, inclusive, of chapter 6 and the regulations thereto, regarding criminal offender record information.

(3) The commission shall collect from each individual who is subject to a fingerprint-based check all fees associated with conducting fingerprint-based checks of the state and national criminal history databases, pursuant to this chapter as set by the commission.

(4)(a)Fingerprints, as referenced in this section will be submitted to the identification section of the department of state police for a state criminal history check and forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history check, according to the policies and procedures established by the identification section and by the department of criminal justice information services. Fingerprint submissions and national criminal history checks may be retained by the department of criminal justice information services for the purposes of ensuring the continued suitability for licensure, certification, approval or employment of those individuals, provided that said department is authorized to disseminate the results of a national criminal history check to the commission for the purpose of determining the suitability of any individual identified in paragraph (1) or (2) of this section.

(b) The department of criminal justice information services shall disseminate the results of the criminal background check to the commission. Said department of criminal justice information services shall only disseminate information under this section that would otherwise be available to requesting entities under the provisions of sections 167 through 178, inclusive, of chapter 6 and the regulations thereto, regarding criminal offender record information.

(c) The commission shall amend its regulations in a manner necessary to carry out the provisions of this section, provided that the regulations may reflect a phased-in schedule for the fingerprint-based background checks, provided, however, that such phase-in shall not begin prior to September 1, 2017.

(d) Any and all persons required to undergo the fingerprinting process described in this shall pay a fee, to be established by the commission in consultation with the secretary of public safety and security, to offset the costs of operating and administering a fingerprint-based criminal background check system, provided that said fee shall not exceed 55 dollars per person; provided, further, that the fee may increase accordingly if the federal bureau of investigation increases its fees for fingerprint background checks services. All fees collected under this section, shall be deposited into the Fingerprint-Based Background Check Trust Fund established under section 2HHHH of chapter 29.

(b) The deposits and credits to this fund pursuant to this section shall be utilized for the sole purpose of carrying out pursuant to this section state and national criminal background checks and verifications, including, but not limited to, obtaining or contracting to obtain fingerprints and fees from subjects, making payments charged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation or other entity, staffing the department of state police and the department of criminal justice information services to submit fingerprints and to obtain, verify and disseminate the results of background checks, and maintaining the public safety information systems used to obtain access to fingerprint-based state and national criminal background information.

(c) The department of criminal justice information services shall report annually to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on consumer protection and professional licensure on the cost of operating and administering the fingerprint-based criminal background check system, including expenditures from the fund and their purposes.