Whereas, during the First Special Session of the 118th Legislature, the Legislature enacted provisions regarding the confidentiality of information gathered pursuant to criminal history record checks of educational personnel; and

Whereas, the confidentiality provisions prohibit the release of all information, including general information; and

Whereas, access to general statistical information is necessary for the Legislature to evaluate the effectiveness of the criminal history record program for educational personnel; and

Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §6103, sub-§3, as amended by PL 1997, c. 452, §3, is further amended to read:

3. Confidentiality. Any Except as provided in subsection 3- A, any information obtained pursuant to this section is confidential. The results of criminal history record checks received by the commissioner are for official use only and may not be disseminated outside the department except as provided in subsection 3-A.

Sec. 2. 20-A MRSA §6103, sub-§3-A is enacted to read:

3-A.__Statistical information.__Statistics and other information described in this subsection are public information.__ Dissemination of statistics and other information pursuant to this subsection must be made in a manner that preserves the confidentiality of the information contained in the criminal history records provided to the commissioner from which these statistics are drawn.__Statistics and information may be disseminated as follows:

A.__From the Maine State Police:

(1)__Information explaining the process used by the Maine State Police in conducting fingerprinting and