Failure to do a Background Check Backfires

Retired orthopedic surgeon Forney Fleming was just what the doctor ordered, or so Texans for Lawsuit Reform thought.

He was eager to bash plaintiffs' lawyers, particularly those who targeted doctors. So TLR, a business group that has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars bashing plaintiffs' lawyers and winning restrictions on judgments against physicians and other defendants, signed him up as a volunteer speaker.

Inaccurate Background Check Derails Job Hunter

During the past year, former real estate office manager Paul Davis sent out more than 100 resumes and applications and wondered why his efforts resulted in only two calls.

After talking to one helpful human resources manager, he was told he would find the answer by looking at his criminal background.

Revised UM Policy Will Require Criminal Background Checks of New Hires

Anyone who wants to work for the University of Missouri System will be subject to a criminal background check by a private contractor once a revised personnel policy takes effect on Oct. 1.

Newly hired, rehired or promoted employees and department transfers will be subject to the background checks. The new policy will apply to applicants for faculty and staff full-time, part-time and temporary positions. The policy will not apply to student workers.

Checking up on the Officials

Thirty-one NCAA Division I conference commissioners will meet over the next two days at the Big Ten Conference offices in Park Ridge, Ill. Big West commissioner Dennis Farrell expects background checks for officials to be a hot topic after a sports betting scandal involving a referee rocked the NBA.

Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty on Aug. 15 to two federal charges after the FBI investigated allegations he gambled on games he officiated and made calls to influence the point spread. Farrell said the case has given the NCAA and its conferences reason to wonder if they are doing enough to preserve the integrity of college athletics.

Utah's Concealed-Weapon Licenses are no Longer Easy to Acquire Abroad

Though Utah's concealed-gun permit has won the hearts of self-defense advocates nationwide - about half the permits are issued to residents of other states - an emergency change in rules will keep it from becoming equally popular around the globe.

A legislative committee learned Tuesday that about 1,000 citizens of foreign countries have earned Utah's wallet identification card signifying they can pack a gun out of sight in Utah and any of 30 U.S. states that have a reciprocity agreement with Utah.

CU Revamps Hiring Policies

CU is taking another look at the criminal records of its employees following the recent stabbing of a student by a former UMC worker.

The university recently finished criminal background checks on five employees, who were referred to the university through the Chinook Clubhouse. The outcome, however, is unknown to the public.

"The results of these background checks are private, protected personnel information available only to an employee's supervisor," CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said.

New Foster Care Bill Includes Stringent Background Check

Sen. Tom Niehaus recently introduced Senate Bill 163, a foster care reform bill spurred by an incident in Clermont County — the Marcus Fiesel case.

The bill provides some requirements for additional background checks for foster parents. This would include a Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification background check and other additional checks that are required.

Background Check Catches Accused Child Molester

An accused child molester who fled from Merced in 2005 has been captured in Louisiana, Merced Police said Wednesday.

Merced Police were notified this week of the arrest Charles Robert Wilson, 31, by Bossier Sheriff's Office investigators, according the Cmdr. Tom Martin of the Merced Police Department.

Martin said in an e-mail that Wilson had applied for a job in a juvenile facility and a background check on his record revealed a $2 million warrant for his arrest from Merced.

Clinton Campaign Cites Flawed Background Check

A spokesman for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign yesterday blamed a faulty background check for the campaign's failure to raise any questions about Norman Hsu, a previously unknown businessman who suddenly became one of its biggest fundraisers.

Though a commonly used public record search shows that Hsu had multiple business lawsuits filed against him dating to 1985, filed for bankruptcy in 1990, and was a defendant in two 1991 California court matters listed as possible criminal cases, the campaign said its computer checks used insufficient search terms that did not include the two middle names Hsu used in the California case. "In all of these searches, the campaign used the name Norman Hsu, which, like the search results of other committees and campaigns, did not turn up disqualifying information," Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson explained.

Land Lord Fights Crime

Police have rounded up nearly 40 people in the past few weeks thanks to operation crack-hammer. Now, Elmira’s police chief is asking landlords to step up in the fight against crime

"Absentee landlords contribute to these problems by not screening their tenants but its not the landlord that's doing these things, they're not selling the drugs it's the occupants" says Elmira Chief of Police, Scott Drake.

Teachers Could Get Stuck With Tab for Fingerprints

More than 400,000 teachers and other school professionals in Texas might have to pay about $50 each to have their fingerprints taken under a new school safety law enacted this year.

Although teacher-group leaders were assured that the state would pick up the cost of the fingerprinting and mandatory criminal background checks, lawmakers did not include funding in the state budget, and efforts to find the money – about $25 million – through other channels have been unsuccessful.

Considerations for Better Background Checks

Executives faced with increasing concerns over the screening process for potential employees need to make better use of the tools already available to them, experts said.

Labor and employment attorneys say that the proper screening of employees is becoming an increasing problem faced by many companies. Some of the problems include making a hire that turns out to be the "wrong fit," hiring someone who is not qualified for the position and hiring people who are unproductive.

Background Checks for Contractors

The contractor responsible for fixing Government Plaza's leaky roof won't be doing any more work for Mobile County. But, it's not because the roof still leaks, it's because county officials say the man who is head of the company plead guilty more than a decade ago to fraud against the government.

Call for Better Background Checks for School Bus Drivers

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is calling for improvements to criminal background checks for bus drivers. His auditors found that many school districts and school bus companies will hire drivers, allow them on the road, while waiting up to 90 days for their criminal backgrounds to be cleared by the DMV.

After reviewing the records of 13 bus services in various parts of the State, the State Comptroller found that 12 percent of the bus drivers files did not include letters from the DMV indicating that their criminal history checks were complete.

Hyderabad IT Firms Put Employees Under Scanner

Following intelligence reports of a possible terrorist infiltration, employees of IT firms across Hyderabad have been put under surveillance.

Restrictions have been put on Internet access and the employees can use only the software approved by the management and can do only assigned work.

Blind Immigrant Wins Court Round For Citizenship

A judge has ordered the Unites State government to produce some background check documents on a blind Jordanian immigrant who has been fighting for years to become a U.S. citizen. The ruling could lead to a final decision in the case.

It’s the Federal Bureau of Investigation's name check of Zuhair Mahd, who sued the government, that's in question. The government said it performed the check before rejecting the man's application for citizenship, but the court said it wants proof the FBI check actually happened. The court wants to know the results of that check within 10 days.

Universities Need to Look into Background for all Employees

A background check of Kenton Drew Astin, 39, might have given University of Colorado officials pause before hiring him to work at the University Memorial Center. A check would have shown that he was accused of stabbing a 21-year-old man in Longmont before some 20 onlookers in 2001 and that he was later found not guilty by reason of insanity on charges of first-degree attempted murder, assault and felony menacing.

8 University of Colorado temps on paid leave for background check

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - Eight temporary University of Colorado employees referred by a mental-health agency are on paid leave after 1 of that program's former participants was accused of attacking a student with a knife.

University spokesman Bronson Hilliard says the school hopes they can return to work if background checks find no violent crimes.

Background Checks For The General Public

Your child's soccer coach, your landscaper, the handyman? Do you know who these people are?

"There are essentially unhealthy people out there, predators that come into our lives looking like and acting like they're just good natured people," said security expert, Robert Siciliano. So to be sure you know who you're dealing with, take your own precautions.

"People are realizing their personal security and they're becoming much more responsible by getting background checks done," said Siciliano.

For years, major companies have used background checks to look into prospective employees. But these days, business from the general public is booming at services like my-background-check-dot-com where you need only a few bits of information to research somebody without their knowledge.

New Law Eliminates Waiting Period For Gun In Missouri

A new Missouri law makes it faster and easier than ever to get a gun. Backers say it just cuts through red tape. Gun control advocates say it's not a huge change, but believe lawmakers should have spent taxpayer dollars making more important revisions.

"Let's say there's a person who has an issue where they're in fear for their life and they need to get a gun fairly quickly," says Michael Meyer, of the St. Louis Association of Firearms Training Instructors. "If they had to wait ten days, that may be too late."

Now when you walk in a gun store, you can walk out with a gun, in minutes not days.

"It makes it fair as far as protection," Meyer says. "You won't be a victim."

Meyer says the law change does not mean Missouri is going soft on gun control, but simply cutting through red tape, and a duplication of background checks.