Pima County, Ariz., Considers Widening Background Check Authority

In an effort to protect children and threats to critical infrastructure, the Pima County, Ariz., Board of Supervisors approved preliminary language, Jan. 4, which would allow county agencies to fingerprint employees without getting special permission from the board.

If passed, the proposed ordinance would grant department heads the authority to require employees to get fingerprinted and undergo a background check. The language would apply to current and perspective employees, contractors and volunteers who interact with minors and vulnerable adults; or have access to critical infrastructure; sensitive information; locations and equipment; or money.

“The documented increased threats to critical infrastructure, as well as increasing awareness of the risks associated with the county’s fiduciary and operational responsibilities results in the need to perform more in-depth background checks for those individuals performing specific jobs that involve access to certain vulnerable individuals, restricted information or critical locations,” Pima County administrator C. H. Huckelberry wrote in a memo recommending the language in the draft ordinance.   
Administrative rules implementing the ordinance would establish the types of jobs or circumstances that would require background checks and fingerprint collection, said John Moffatt, director of the county’s Office of Strategic Technology Planning.

In addition to state law, other factors included the expansion of what is considered critical infrastructure and an increased number of county employees with access to sensitive information and locations, including the technology staff, Moffatt said. “We had the situation where we’re having more and more of the IT folks who have access to critical data yet the state law did not enable — or did not require — background checks on the IT organization,” he said. “Yet that data we’re worried about is sitting on their servers that they can access and it’s going down their networks that they can watch.”

Moffatt said the wastewater treatment department, which had been designated critical infrastructure some time ago, has been working on increased security planning for the past two years and had approached him about fingerprinting employees a few months ago.

The next step is for Moffatt to develop a draft administrative procedure outlining how the ordinance will be carried out. Once the administrative procedure is developed, a public hearing on the ordinance will be conducted, then the ordinance and administrative policy will be sent back to the board with public comments for consideration for adoption.

A fingerprint background check conducted by the Arizona Department of Public Safety costs the county $24 and the new ordinance could require as many as 500 additional employees to undergo the checks, Moffatt wrote in an e-mail.

He expects to have the ordinance back to the board for a second vote in February.