The following procedures apply as a matter of bishop's policy to the diocesan staff. In adapting these procedures to other locations, e.g., congregations or Triangle Lake Center, some adjustment of wording may be necessary with respect to filing, decision making and the like.

Employees and volunteers, clergy and lay, who will or may have access to children under 18 years of age are asked to complete and sign two forms.

1. The first form is an internal disclosure form entitled "Supplement to Staff Employment Application." This form may be duplicated locally or obtained from the diocesan office.

1. Completed forms are treated as confidential material and held in a private file in the bishop's office.

2. A "yes" answer to a question does not necessarily, in itself, disqualify an individual, but will necessitate, as a minimum, a private discussion with the person with the objective of surfacing certain details to determine whether assigning or appointing the individual will place children under 18 years of age, or for that matter anyone, at risk. If risk is determined to exist, the individual is not assigned to the position. Doubtful situations will be brought to the bishop's attention for determination. The general rule will be not to appoint a person who is identified as having any history of sexual abuse

2. The second form is a "Request for Criminal Offender Information" form. This form may be obtained from the Diocesan Finance Office or see Section 5.7.1 for a sample form.

The appropriate supervisor completes the "Requestor Information" section (the congregation being the requestor) and mails the form to the address indicated on the top of the form.

A $10.00 fee must be enclosed, payable to The Oregon State Police.

3. The "requestor information" section may be completed in advance.

1. If the Oregon State Police's (OSP) compiled criminal offender information on the subject contains records of any conviction or of any arrest less than one year old on which there has been no acquittal or dismissal, the Oregon State Police shall respond to the request as follows:

1. Oregon State Police shall send prompt, written notice of the request to the subject about whom the request has been made. The Oregon State Police shall address the notice to the subject's last address known to the OSP and to the subject's address supplied by the requestor.The notice shall state that the OSP has received a request for information concerning the subject and shall identify the requestor.
   Notice to the subject shall include:

• a copy of all information to be supplied to the requestor;

• notice to the subject of the manner in which the subject may become informed of the procedures for challenging inaccurate criminal offender information; and

• notice to the subject of the manner in which the subject may become informed of rights, if any, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and notice that discrimination by an employer on the basis of arrest records alone may violate Federal Civil Rights law and that the individual may obtain further information by contacting the Bureau of Labor and Industries.

ii         Fourteen days after sending notice to the subject, OSP             shall deliver to the requestor the following information if             held regarding any convictions and any arrests less than             one year old on which the records show no acquittal or             dismissal

• date of arrest;

• offense for which arrest was made;

• arresting agency;

• court of origin; and

• disposition, including sentence imposed; date of parole, if any, and parole revocations, if any.

• If a challenge is received prior to the end of the statutory 14-day waiting period, response to the requestor will be held in abeyance until the challenge is resolved.

iii      The OSP shall inform the requestor that the OSP's                     response is being furnished only on the basis of similarity           of names and description and that the identification is not           confirmed by fingerprints.

2. If the OSP holds no criminal offender information on the subject, or   the OSP's compiled criminal offender information on the subject       consists only of non-conviction data, the OSP shall respond to the     request that the subject has no criminal record and shall release no    further information.

3. The OSP shall keep a record of all requests and shall keep a record   of the names of the subjects, regardless of whether the OSP has        compiled any criminal offender information on the subject. These      records shall be public records and available for inspection

4. The use of this form will only provide a check on information normally available to the OSP. A record in some other state and offenses as a minor will not appear. Consequently, careful reference checks are important, especially when considering the appointment of someone  who has spent considerable time outside the state of         Oregon. It may also be desirable to request information from         other states, many of  which now have procedures similar to Oregon's.

Adopted by the Standing Committee
March 29, 1990

5.7.1 SAMPLE REQUEST FOR CRIMINAL OFFENDER INFORMATION

To view sample form, click here.

[Please note:  You must have Acrobat Reader version 3.0 or later installed on your computer to view this file.]

5.7.2 SAMPLE SUPPLEMENT TO STAFF EMPLOYMENT APPLICATION

To view sample form, click here.