1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to public safety; authorizing organizations providing mentoring 
1.3 	services to request criminal background checks from the Bureau of Criminal 
1.4 	Apprehension; appropriating money;proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
1.5 	Statutes, chapter 299A.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. [299A.82] MENTORING PROGRAMS; CRIMINAL BACKGROUND 
1.8 	CHECKS.
1.9 		Subdivision 1.Definition. For purposes of this section, "mentoring" means a 
1.10 	commitment between an adult and youth focused on developing the character and 
1.11 	capabilities of the young person and involving regular, personal, or face-to-face meetings.
1.12 		Subd. 2.Background check requests. To screen for safety risks, an organization 
1.13 	providing mentor services may request the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to perform 
1.14 	a criminal background check on persons volunteering to become a mentor under the 
1.15 	organization's supervision.
1.16 		Subd. 3.Background checks. The superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal 
1.17 	Apprehension shall provide up to 40,000 state background checks upon request for 
1.18 	background checks by charitable, nonprofit mentoring organizations specified in 
1.19 	subdivision 2. Mentoring organizations must complete a background check training 
1.20 	through the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota. Upon completion of the training, mentor 
1.21 	programs are eligible to receive background checks through the Bureau of Criminal 
1.22 	Apprehension under this subdivision.

1.23 	Sec. 2. APPROPRIATION.
 2.1 	(a) $320,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of public 
2.2 	safety to provide criminal background checks as provided in section 1. The appropriation 
2.3 	is part of the base and is available for the biennium ending June 30, 2009.
2.4 	(b) $10,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of public 
2.5 	safety for background check training. The commissioner shall distribute these funds to the 
2.6 	Mentoring Partnership to provide background check training. The appropriation is not 
2.7 	part of the base and is available for the biennium ending June 30, 2009.