231.02  Qualifications of personnel.--

(1)  To be eligible for appointment in any position in any district school system, a person shall be of good moral character; shall have attained the age of 18 years, if he or she is to be employed in an instructional capacity; and shall, when required by law, hold a certificate or license issued under rules of the State Board of Education or the ¹Department of Children and Family Services, except when employed pursuant to s. 231.15 or under the emergency provisions of s. 236.0711. Previous residence in this state shall not be required in any school of the state as a prerequisite for any person holding a valid Florida certificate or license to serve in an instructional capacity.

(2)(a)  Instructional and noninstructional personnel who are hired to fill positions requiring direct contact with students in any district school system or laboratory school shall, upon employment, file a complete set of fingerprints taken by an authorized law enforcement officer or an employee of the school or district who is trained to take fingerprints. These fingerprints shall be submitted to the Department of Law Enforcement for state processing and to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for federal processing. The new employees shall be on probationary status pending fingerprint processing and determination of compliance with standards of good moral character. Employees found through fingerprint processing to have been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude shall not be employed in any position requiring direct contact with students. Probationary employees terminated because of their criminal record shall have the right to appeal such decisions. The cost of the fingerprint processing may be borne by the district school board or the employee.

(b)  Personnel who have been fingerprinted or screened pursuant to this subsection and who have not been unemployed for more than 90 days shall not be required to be refingerprinted or rescreened in order to comply with the requirements of this subsection.

History.--s. 502, ch. 19355, 1939; CGL 1940 Supp. 892(108); s. 14, ch. 23726, 1947; ss. 19, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 1, ch. 69-300; s. 3, ch. 76-168; s. 1, ch. 77-457; s. 1, ch. 79-12; s. 11, ch. 80-190; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; ss. 4, 28, 31, ch. 82-242; s. 94, ch. 83-217; s. 5, ch. 84-94; s. 1, ch. 89-144; s. 5, ch. 89-261; s. 16, ch. 89-302; s. 17, ch. 91-105; s. 7, ch. 92-67; s. 1240, ch. 95-147; s. 12, ch. 96-369; s. 1, ch. 98-281; s. 32, ch. 99-8; s. 46, ch. 99-398; s. 8, ch. 2000-301.