MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL
A Division Of The
Department of Public Safety
Public Information and Education Division - PO Box 568 - Jefferson City, MO 65102
NEWS RELEASE

For further information please contact: Capt. John J. Hotz
Q8282018-2 (573) 526-6115

August 28, 2018
EMPHASIS: Patrol Provides Additional Explanation For RAP Back

Colonel Sandra K. Karsten, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, would like to provide additional information to the public regarding the RAP Back program authorized by Missouri House Bill 1350.

Effective August 28, 2018, Missouri House Bill 1350 takes effect authorizing the Missouri and National RAP Back programs. If enrolled in the RAP Back program, qualified entities will have the ability to receive ongoing status notifications of new arrests regarding those applicants under the entity's purview. Notifications are contingent upon the entity having submitted a fingerprint-based criminal record check on or after August 28, 2018, and would include arrests reported in Missouri, as well as from other states.

Qualified entities eligible for RAP Back include but are not limited to: public and private schools; health care providers; childcare and eldercare providers; and city, county, and state licensing agencies, which includes governmental employment and criminal justice employment for sheriff’s departments, police departments, prosecuting attorneys' offices, and court personnel.

The concept for RAP Back originated from representatives from numerous local, state, and federal agencies, including noncriminal justice entities, concerned with a one-time criminal history record check being conducted on persons in positions of public trust. With RAP Back, authorized entities can receive ongoing status notifications on criminal arrests reported to the state or FBI, but received after the initial processing of a fingerprint-based criminal record check request. There are several benefits for entities to enroll applicants in RAP Back, which includes decreasing the requirement to re-fingerprint for the same purpose, solving the “snapshot in time” issue associated with a one-time background check, and reducing the need for self-reporting.

Missouri is one of three states in the nation that is approved for Federal RAP Back. The other states are Utah, which became a participating state on July 1, 2015, and Texas, which became a participating state on October 26, 2017.

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