456.0135 General background screening provisions.—
1(1) An application for initial licensure received on or after January 1, 2013, under chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter 460, chapter 461, chapter 464, s. 465.022, part XIII of chapter 468, or chapter 480 shall include fingerprints pursuant to procedures established by the department through a vendor approved by the Department of Law Enforcement and fees imposed for the initial screening and retention of fingerprints. Fingerprints must be submitted electronically to the Department of Law Enforcement for state processing, and the Department of Law Enforcement shall forward the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for national processing. Each board, or the department if there is no board, shall screen the results to determine if an applicant meets licensure requirements. For any subsequent renewal of the applicant’s license that requires a national criminal history check, the department shall request the Department of Law Enforcement to forward the retained fingerprints of the applicant to the Federal Bureau of Investigation unless the fingerprints are enrolled in the national retained print arrest notification program.
(2) All fingerprints submitted to the Department of Law Enforcement as required under subsection (1) shall be retained by the Department of Law Enforcement as provided under s. 943.05(2)(g) and (h) and (3) and enrolled in the national retained print arrest notification program at the Federal Bureau of Investigation when the Department of Law Enforcement begins participation in the program. The department shall notify the Department of Law Enforcement regarding any person whose fingerprints have been retained but who is no longer licensed.
(3) The costs of fingerprint processing, including the cost for retaining fingerprints, shall be borne by the applicant subject to the background screening.
(4) All fingerprints received under this section shall be entered into the Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse as provided in s. 435.12.
(5) In addition to the offenses listed in s. 435.04, all persons required to undergo background screening under this section, other than those licensed under s. 465.022, must not have an arrest awaiting final disposition for, must not have been found guilty of, regardless of adjudication, or entered a plea of nolo contendere or guilty to, and must not have been adjudicated delinquent and the record not have been sealed or expunged for an offense under s. 784.03 or any similar offense of another jurisdiction relating to battery, if the victim is a vulnerable adult as defined in s. 415.102 or a patient or resident of a facility licensed under chapter 395, chapter 400, or chapter 429.
History.—s. 13, ch. 2012-73; s. 1, ch. 2014-139; s. 13, ch. 2015-116; s. 54, ch. 2020-133; s. 6, ch. 2024-243.
A. Section 6, ch. 2024-243, amended subsection (1), effective July 1, 2025, to read:
(1) An application for initial licensure received on or after January 1, 2013, under chapter 458; chapter 459; chapter 460; chapter 461; chapter 462; chapter 463; chapter 464; s. 465.007; s. 465.0075; chapter 466; chapter 467; part I, part II, part III, part V, part X, part XIII, or part XIV of chapter 468; chapter 478; chapter 480; chapter 483; chapter 484; chapter 486; chapter 490; or chapter 491 must include fingerprints pursuant to procedures established by the department through a vendor approved by the Department of Law Enforcement and fees imposed for the initial screening and retention of fingerprints. Fingerprints must be submitted electronically to the Department of Law Enforcement for state processing, and the Department of Law Enforcement shall forward the fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for national processing. Each board, or the department if there is no board, must screen the results to determine whether an applicant meets licensure requirements. For any subsequent renewal of the applicant’s license which requires a national criminal history check, the department shall request the Department of Law Enforcement to forward the retained fingerprints of the applicant to the Federal Bureau of Investigation unless the fingerprints are enrolled in the national retained print arrest notification program.
B. Section 7, ch. 2024-243, provides that “[b]eginning July 1, 2025, the amendments made by this act to s. 456.0135, Florida Statutes, apply to applicants seeking initial licensure in any of the health care professions specified in that section. To ensure that all health care practitioners practicing in the health care professions subject to the background screening requirements for initial licensure under s. 456.0135, Florida Statutes, as amended by this act, are screened, health care practitioners who were already licensed in such health care professions before July 1, 2025, must submit to background screening in accordance with s. 456.0135, Florida Statutes, by their next licensure renewal that takes place on or after July 1, 2025, notwithstanding the fact that s. 456.0135, Florida Statutes, applies to initial licensure only. The Department of Health may not renew the license of such a health care practitioner after July 1, 2025, until he or she complies with these background screening requirements.”
