§ 2-66. Criminal history record checks applicable to individuals employed in positions of employment deemed by the board of county commissioners to be critical to security or public safety.

(a)

Each Collier County employee and "position of employment" is deemed to be critical to security or public safety.

(b)

"Position of employment" is not limited to true employees, but shall be liberally construed to include each individual who is "appointed" to the position, and also includes each individual who, because of his/her relation to an entity that has entered into a contract with the county, who, because of that relationship will be afforded any opportunity to be a risk to security or to public safety, such as, but not limited to, each individual who, with or without authorization, could gain physical access to any place (restricted access location) where such individual could poison or otherwise contaminate any potable water that might be supplied by the county, or by the Collier County Water-Sewer District, to any consumer or end-user; or who, because of such relationship, could physically harm or destroy any functionality of any potable water facility owned or controlled by Collier County or by said district, or who could damage or destroy any telecommunications system or major telecommunications facility or computer system or network, and provided the individual will not always be subject to continuous, direct and immediate supervision by at least one individual who had passed the background checks.

(1)

Positions of employment.

a.

All Collier County employees, applicants, and incumbents.

b.

Additional positions: Each additional position or classification added to the subsection from time-to-time by resolution(s) of the board.

(2)

Applicants. Each individual who submits an application to Collier County to be considered for employment shall be fingerprinted, and those fingerprints shall be submitted to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (for a state criminal history records check) and also to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history records check. The information obtained from each respective criminal history record will be used to determine the applicant's eligibility for employment (or continued employment) to the respective position, or, if then employed, continued employment in any position that is required to successfully pass the respective criminal history record checks.

(3)

Procedure. The fingerprinting shall be conducted by the Collier County Facilities Department. All employees shall be re-fingerprinted every five years.

(4)

Other positions of employment (or appointment) deemed by the board of county commissioners to be critical to security or to public safety can be added to this section by resolution(s) adopted from time-to-time by the board.

(5)

Contracts can mandate that each such position deemed to be critical to security or public safety shall undergo these criminal history records checks, and information obtained from, or as a result of, any such records check can be the sole basis to place limitations on the places (locations) where such individuals shall be denied all physical access at all times.

(6)

This section shall be liberally construed. This section does not affect any law, any other ordinance, or any rule or regulation related to criminal history records checks except that pursuant to F.S. § 125.5801 and F.S. § 112.011(2)(c), each individual applying for county employment (or who is then employed by the county) in a position that is then deemed by this section (or resolution adopted by the board under this section) to be critical to security or to public safety, is not protected by F.S. § 112.011, and, therefore, such individual can be denied employment (or if then already employed, the employment can be terminated) if that individual has been or is convicted of any felony or any misdemeanor of the first degree, whether or not the conviction is related to that employment.

(Ord. No. 2004-52, § 1; Ord. No. 07-64, § 1)