A bill requiring universities to submit the background information of newly admitted students to the Virginia State Police to determine whether or not they are convicted sex offenders was sent from the Virginia House of Delegates to the Senate last Thursday.
According to Del. David Toscano, D-Charlottesville, the House bill has been passed 99-1; a very similar bill is pending in the Senate and is likely to pass in the next few weeks.
House Bill 984 states that "Public and private two and four-year institutions of higher education are required to electronically transmit enrollment information to the State Police for comparison with the Virginia Criminal Information Network and National Crime Information Center Convicted Sexual Offender Registry."
The bill will ensure that sex offenders are on file with State Police according to Toscano.
Concerns have arisen regarding thepotential conflicts with the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act, which protects the amount of information one can receive involving students enrolled in a higher education institution, according to Kimberly Hamilton, the executive director for the Virginia State Crime Commission.
However, to avoid conflicts with the FERPA, background searches will be conducted as soon as a student is accepted to the college or university before they officially enroll, Hamilton said.
The Senate and House bills, products of a year-long study on sex offenders conducted by the Virginia Crime Commission, will ensure the safety of the public, as well as students on college campuses, Hamilton said.
"The Senate bill has 54 changes regarding sex offenders," according to Hamilton.
Toscano explained that there is a "whole slew of bills designed to address this problem," with approximately $4 million appropriated to implement the measures called for in the bills.
Currently "colleges are one of the places where background checks are not done," Hamilton said.
One of the advantages is that school police will be more aware of the type of population they are protecting, she said.
It is important for the colleges to know what type of students make up their populations, Del. Robert Bell R-Charlottesville said.
"We want to locate and keep track of all sex offenders," and these bills will enable the Commonwealth to do that, Bell said.
Toscano explained that the registry of sex offenders is public and available on the internet. The new bills will give State Police an organized way to keep track of sex offenders in the Commonwealth.
Hamilton said "not all [students] are predators, but it only takes one on a campus to make an unsafe environment."
Capt. Michael Coleman of the University Police explained that it is not going to have an enormous amount of effect on current University policies. Currently, the University police investigate all reported incidents, but they do not keep records of sex offenders at the University, Coleman said.
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