Following Up on Regulating Background Checks in Public Schools

Previously, we explained House Bill 4123 (HB4123) and the restructuring of protocols for contractors to become qualified to provide services to public schools. The bill reforms requirements around background checks on construction workers assigned to public schools. When this law was passed, there were many questions about how the new background check process would work. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has since published additional guidance to help contractors comply with the new qualification process.

Previously, the contractor would have to submit every employee’s information to the school district and then the school district would obtain the criminal background information. The legislative intent of HB4123 was to streamline the process by taking the school district (the middleman) out of the process. The new statute says that DPS will determine whether a general contractor can become a “qualified school contractor,” giving the contractor the power to obtain criminal history information on their employees. Many federal and state laws prevent construction workers from working near a school if they have a criminal record.

Here's what the new process looks like:

1. First, the general contractor would reach out to the DPS to be deemed a “qualified school contractor.” To do this, the contractor may contact DPS’s Criminal History Inquiry Unit by email at NCJU@dps.texas.gov or by phone at (512) 424-2474, option 1.
2. Next, DPS will submit the contractor’s information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who then makes the decision on whether the contractor can become a qualified school contractor. Once a contractor is deemed qualified, the contractor can submit employee information directly to DPS and obtain their employees’ criminal history without having to go through the school district.
3. Then, the general contractor can certify to the school district that the contractor has obtained criminal history information on its employees and ensure that all employees working on the campus may perform such school-related work.

So how much of an impact does HB 4123 really have on contractors?

In many ways, the new law does not change much for contractors. General contractors were always responsible, to some extent, for ensuring that all employees and subcontractors were legally permitted to work at or near a school. The new law implies that DPS will define criteria on what it takes to become a qualified school contractor, but that’s not the case. There is no rulemaking that we will see coming from DPS on this matter.

Apart from taking the school district out the process, the process is pretty much the same. DPS has always worked with the FBI to determine whether contractors were eligible to work on a school campus. The bill is more of a codification of the previous involvement of DPS and the FBI in determining whether construction contractors were permitted to work at a school.

Hopefully, HB4123 will speed up the background check process for contractors, allowing them to quickly get to work on building a better learning environment for Texas schools and students.