(a) Each applicant for a license issued by the Arkansas Social Work Licensing Board is required to apply for a state and national criminal background check, to be conducted by the Department of Arkansas State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

(b) The criminal background check shall conform to the applicable federal standards and shall include the taking of fingerprints.

(c) The applicant shall sign a release of information to the board and shall be responsible for the payment of any fee associated with the criminal background check.

(d) Upon completion of the criminal background check, the Identification Bureau of the Department of Arkansas State Police shall forward to the board all information obtained concerning the applicant in the commission of any offense listed in subsection (e) of this section.

(e) Except as provided in subdivision (k)(1) of this section, a person is not eligible to receive or hold a license issued by the board if that person has pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to or been found guilty of a felony, any crime involving moral turpitude, or criminal offense involving violence, dishonesty, fraud, deceit, breach of client trust, or abuse of the vulnerable, including without limitation:

(1) Capital murder as prohibited in § 5-10-101;

(2) Murder in the first degree as prohibited in § 5-10-102 and murder in the second degree as prohibited in § 5-10-103;

(3) Manslaughter as prohibited in § 5-10-104;

(4) Negligent homicide as prohibited in § 5-10-105;

(5) Kidnapping as prohibited in § 5-11-102;

(6) False imprisonment in the first degree as prohibited in § 5-11-103;

(7) Permanent detention or restraint as prohibited in § 5-11-106;

(8) Robbery as prohibited in § 5-12-102;

(9) Aggravated robbery as prohibited in § 5-12-103;

(10) Battery in the first degree as prohibited in § 5-13-201;

(11) Aggravated assault as prohibited in § 5-13-204;

(12) Introduction of a controlled substance into the body of another person as prohibited in § 5-13-210;

(13) Aggravated assault upon a law enforcement officer or an employee of a correctional facility, § 5-13-211, if a Class Y felony;

(14) Terroristic threatening in the first degree as prohibited in § 5-13-301;

(15) Rape as prohibited in § 5-14-103;

(16) Sexual indecency with a child as prohibited in § 5-14-110;

(17) Sexual extortion, § 5-14-113;

(18) Sexual assault in the first degree, second degree, third degree, and fourth degree as prohibited in §§ 5-14-124 -- 5-14-127;

(19) Incest as prohibited in § 5-26-202;

(20) Offenses against the family as prohibited in §§ 5-26-303 -- 5-26-306;

(21) Endangering the welfare of an incompetent person in the first degree as prohibited in § 5-27-201;

(22) Endangering the welfare of a minor in the first degree as prohibited in § 5-27-205;

(23) Permitting abuse of a minor as prohibited in § 5-27-221(a);

(24) Engaging children in sexually explicit conduct for use in visual or print media, transportation of minors for prohibited sexual conduct, pandering or possessing visual or print medium depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child, or use of a child or consent to use of a child in a sexual performance by producing, directing, or promoting a sexual performance by a child as prohibited in §§ 5-27-303 -- 5-27-305, 5-27-402, and 5-27-403;

(25) Computer child pornography as prohibited in § 5-27-603;

(26) Computer exploitation of a child in the first degree as prohibited in § 5-27-605;

(27) Felony adult abuse as prohibited in § 5-28-103;

(28) Theft of property as prohibited in § 5-36-103;

(29) Theft by receiving as prohibited in § 5-36-106;

(30) Arson as prohibited in § 5-38-301;

(31) Burglary as prohibited in § 5-39-201;

(32) Felony violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, §§ 5-64-101 -- 5-64-510, as prohibited in the former § 5-64-401 and §§ 5-64-419 -- 5-64-442;

(33) Promotion of prostitution in the first degree as prohibited in § 5-70-104;

(34) Stalking as prohibited in § 5-71-229; and

(35) Criminal attempt, criminal complicity, criminal solicitation, or criminal conspiracy as prohibited in §§ 5-3-201, 5-3-202, 5-3-301, and 5-3-401, to commit any of the offenses listed in this subsection.

(f) (1) The provisions of subsection (e) of this section may be waived by the board upon the request of:

(A) An affected applicant for licensure; or

(B) The person holding a license subject to revocation.

(2) Circumstances for which a waiver may be granted include, but are not limited to, the following:

(A) The applicant's age at the time the crime was committed;

(B) The circumstances surrounding the crime;

(C) The length of time since the crime;

(D) Subsequent work history;

(E) Employment references;

(F) Character references; and

(G) Other evidence demonstrating that the applicant does not pose a threat to the health or safety of children or endangered adults.

(g)

(1) Information received by the board from the Identification Bureau of the Department of Arkansas State Police under this section shall not be available for examination except by the affected applicant for licensure or his or her authorized representative or the person whose license is subject to revocation or his or her authorized representative.

(2) No record, file, or document shall be removed from the custody of the department.

(h) Information made available to the affected applicant for licensure or the person whose license is subject to revocation shall be information pertaining to that person only.

(i) Rights of privilege and confidentiality established in this section do not extend to any document created for purposes other than the criminal background check.

(j) The board shall adopt the necessary rules to fully implement the provisions of this section.

(k)

(1) As used in this section, an expunged record of a conviction or plea of guilty or nolo contendere to an offense listed in subsection (e) of this section shall not be a felony, any crime involving moral turpitude, or criminal offense involving violence, dishonesty, fraud, deceit, breach of client trust, or abuse of the vulnerable unless the offense is also listed in subdivision (k)(2) of this section.

(2) Because of the serious nature of the offenses and the close relationship to the type of work that is to be performed, a conviction, guilty plea, or nolo contendere plea to any of the following offenses shall result in permanent disqualification for licensure:

(A) Capital murder as prohibited in § 5-10-101;

(B) Murder in the first degree as prohibited in § 5-10-102 and murder in the second degree as prohibited in § 5-10-103;

(C) Kidnapping as prohibited in § 5-11-102;

(D) Aggravated assault upon a law enforcement officer or an employee of a correctional facility, § 5-13-211, if a Class Y felony;

(E) Rape as prohibited in § 5-14-103;

(F) Sexual extortion, § 5-14-113;

(G) Sexual assault in the first degree as prohibited in § 5-14-124 and sexual assault in the second degree as prohibited in § 5-14-125;

(H) Endangering the welfare of an incompetent person in the first degree as prohibited in § 5-27-201;

(I) Endangering the welfare of a minor in the first degree as prohibited in § 5-27-205 and endangering the welfare of a minor in the second degree as prohibited in § 5-27-206;

(J) Engaging children in sexually explicit conduct for use in visual or print media, transportation of minors for prohibited sexual conduct, or pandering or possessing a visual or print medium depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child, or use of a child or consent to use of a child in a sexual performance by producing, directing, or promoting a sexual performance by a child, as prohibited in §§ 5-27-303 -- 5-27-305, 5-27-402, and 5-27-403;

(K) Adult abuse that constitutes a felony as prohibited in § 5-28-103; and

(L) Arson as prohibited in § 5-38-301.