TITLE 1: GOVERNMENT
DIVISION 2: EXECUTIVE BRANCH
§ 2504. Department of Public Safety: Duties and Responsibilities. The duties of the Department of Public Safety include but are not limited to the following: (a) To provide effective police protection to inhabitants of the Commonwealth; (b) To enforce traffic laws and regulations; (c) To safeguard public property and buildings, public officials, and to keep the peace at public ceremonies and official meetings; (d) To inspect motor vehicles and enforce motor vehicle registration laws; (e) To provide for the civil defense of the Commonwealth; (f) To report the presence of dead animals on public property; (g) To establish and participate in training and educational programs relating to criminal justice, crime prevention and other related matters; (h) To assist the courts in service of process, unless otherwise provided by law. (i) To coordinate and oversee the lawful provision of federal and other jurisdiction’s criminal record information to Commonwealth agencies, branches, public corporations, elected boards, licensing boards, and autonomous agencies for use in their employee and applicant background checks and precertification checks. (j) To enforce the Safe Driving Act of 1990, as amended. Source: PL 1-8, tit. 1, ch. 10, § 3; amended by PL 10-62, § 3, modified; (c) deleted by PL 14-25, § 3(b) and subsequent subsections (d) through (k) redesignated as (c) through (j), respectively; subsection (k) added by PL 16-6; former subsection (h) amended by PL 18-73 § 4(b) (Jan. 25, 2015); former subsection (b) stricken and remaining subsections redesignated by PL 18-73 § 4(c) (Jan. 25, 2015). Commission Comment: With respect to the reference to the “Department of Public Safety,” see Executive Order 94-3 (effective Aug. 23, 1994), reorganizing the executive branch, changing agency names and official titles, and effecting other changes, set forth in the Commission comment to 1 CMC § 2001; see also the comment to 1 CMC § 2501. PL 10-62 took effect on July 29, 1997. PL 10-62, § 3 created a new subsection (k) to this section. According to PL 10-62, § 2: Section 2. Purpose and Findings. The Legislature finds that there currently exists a requirement in United States federal law that states and other jurisdictions enact legislation which provides for the dissemination of federal criminal record information to non-law enforcement agencies before such information may be released. The Commonwealth currently has no such law on record and our non-law enforcement agencies often require such information for employee background checks and precertification clearances.
TITLE 1: GOVERNMENT
DIVISION 2: EXECUTIVE BRANCH The Legislature also finds that it is vitally important that certain persons employed or to be employed within the Commonwealth’s educational institutions be properly screened for criminal histories. An FBI fingerprint check is the best way to ensure that a person’s complete criminal history is discovered. The intention of this Act is to provide all Commonwealth agencies with the first step toward the ability to access such information for employee background checks and also to require the Board of Education to check the criminal backgrounds of all present and future teachers and librarians before issuing anything other than a temporary teaching certificate. The integrity of our workforce and the safety of our school children demands nothing less. PL 14-25 was enacted on August 20, 2004. See the Commission comment to 1 CMC § 2501 regarding PL 14-25. See the Commission comment to 3 CMC § 5603 regarding PL 16-6, which took effect July 11, 2008.