1. (A)

   1. (1) The chief administrator of any head start agency shall request the superintendent of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation to conduct a criminal records check with respect to any applicant who has applied to the head start agency for employment as a person responsible for the care, custody, or control of a child. If the applicant does not present proof that the applicant has been a resident of this state for the five-year period immediately prior to the date upon which the criminal records check is requested or does not provide evidence that within that five-year period the superintendent has requested information about the applicant from the federal bureau of investigation in a criminal records check, the chief administrator shall request that the superintendent obtain information from the federal bureau of investigation as a part of the criminal records check for the applicant. If the applicant presents proof that the applicant has been a resident of this state for that five-year period, the chief administrator may request that the superintendent include information from the federal bureau of investigation in the criminal records check.
   2. (2) Any person required by division (A)(1) of this section to request a criminal records check shall provide to each applicant a copy of the form prescribed pursuant to division (C)(1) of section 109.572 of the Revised Code, provide to each applicant a standard impression sheet to obtain fingerprint impressions prescribed pursuant to division (C)(2) of section 109.572 of the Revised Code, obtain the completed form and impression sheet from each applicant, and forward the completed form and impression sheet to the superintendent of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation at the time the chief administrator requests a criminal records check pursuant to division (A)(1) of this section.
   3. (3) Any applicant who receives pursuant to division (A)(2) of this section a copy of the form prescribed pursuant to division (C)(1) of section 109.572 of the Revised Code and a copy of an impression sheet prescribed pursuant to division (C)(2) of that section and who is requested to complete the form and provide a set of fingerprint impressions shall complete the form or provide all the information necessary to complete the form and shall provide the impression sheets with the impressions of the applicant's fingerprints. If an applicant, upon request, fails to provide the information necessary to complete the form or fails to provide impressions of the applicant's fingerprints, the head start agency shall not employ that applicant for any position for which a criminal records check is required by division (A)(1) of this section.

2. (B)

   1. (1) Except as provided in rules adopted by the director of children and youth in accordance with division (E) of this section, no head start agency shall employ a person as a person responsible for the care, custody, or control of a child if the person previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the following:

      1. (a) A violation of section 2903.01, 2903.02, 2903.03, 2903.04, 2903.11, 2903.12, 2903.13, 2903.16, 2903.21, 2903.34, 2905.01, 2905.02, 2905.05, 2907.02, 2907.03, 2907.04, 2907.05, 2907.06, 2907.07, 2907.08, 2907.09, 2907.21, 2907.22, 2907.23, 2907.25, 2907.31, 2907.32, 2907.321, 2907.322, 2907.323, 2911.01, 2911.02, 2911.11, 2911.12, 2919.12, 2919.22, 2919.24, 2919.25, 2923.12, 2923.13, 2923.161, 2925.02, 2925.03, 2925.04, 2925.05, 2925.06, or 3716.11 of the Revised Code, a violation of section 2905.04 of the Revised Code as it existed prior to July 1, 1996, a violation of section 2919.23 of the Revised Code that would have been a violation of section 2905.04 of the Revised Code as it existed prior to July 1, 1996, had the violation occurred prior to that date, a violation of section 2925.11 of the Revised Code that is not a minor drug possession offense, or felonious sexual penetration in violation of former section 2907.12 of the Revised Code;
      2. (b) A violation of an existing or former law of this state, any other state, or the United States that is substantially equivalent to any of the offenses or violations described in division (B)(1)(a) of this section.
   2. (2) A head start agency may employ an applicant conditionally until the criminal records check required by this section is completed and the agency receives the results of the criminal records check. If the results of the criminal records check indicate that, pursuant to division (B)(1) of this section, the applicant does not qualify for employment, the agency shall release the applicant from employment.

3. (C)

   1. (1) Each head start agency shall pay to the bureau of criminal identification and investigation the fee prescribed pursuant to division (C)(3) of section 109.572 of the Revised Code for each criminal records check conducted in accordance with that section upon the request pursuant to division (A)(1) of this section of the chief administrator of the head start agency.
   2. (2) A head start agency may charge an applicant a fee for the costs it incurs in obtaining a criminal records check under this section. A fee charged under this division shall not exceed the amount of fees the agency pays under division (C)(1) of this section. If a fee is charged under this division, the agency shall notify the applicant at the time of the applicant's initial application for employment of the amount of the fee and that, unless the fee is paid, the head start agency will not consider the applicant for employment.
4. (D) The report of any criminal records check conducted by the bureau of criminal identification and investigation in accordance with section 109.572 of the Revised Code and pursuant to a request made under division (A)(1) of this section is not a public record for the purposes of section 149.43 of the Revised Code and shall not be made available to any person other than the applicant who is the subject of the criminal records check or the applicant's representative, the head start agency requesting the criminal records check or its representative, and any court, hearing officer, or other necessary individual involved in a case dealing with the denial of employment to the applicant.
5. (E) The director of children and youth shall adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to implement this section, including rules specifying circumstances under which a head start agency may hire a person who has been convicted of an offense listed in division (B)(1) of this section but who meets standards in regard to rehabilitation set by the director.
6. (F) Any person required by division (A)(1) of this section to request a criminal records check shall inform each person, at the time of the person's initial application for employment, that the person is required to provide a set of impressions of the person's fingerprints and that a criminal records check is required to be conducted and satisfactorily completed in accordance with section 109.572 of the Revised Code if the person comes under final consideration for appointment or employment as a precondition to employment for that position.

7. (G) As used in this section:

   1. (1) "Applicant" means a person who is under final consideration for appointment or employment in a position with a head start agency as a person responsible for the care, custody, or control of a child.
   2. (2) "Head start agency" means an entity in this state that has been approved to be an agency for purposes of the "Head Start Act," 95 State 489 (1981), 42 U.S.C. 9831, as amended.
   3. (3) "Criminal records check" has the same meaning as in section 109.572 of the Revised Code.
   4. (4) "Minor drug possession offense" has the same meaning as in section 2925.01 of the Revised Code.

Last updated January 1, 2025 at 6:34 AM