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Senate Bill 627 |
Senate Author: Carona |
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Effective: 9-1-09 |
House Sponsor: Solomons |
Senate Bill 627 amends the Civil Practice and Remedies Code to modify provisions relating to the liability of in-home service companies and residential delivery companies for negligent hiring and to enact those modified provisions as the Sue Weaver Act. The bill requires such a company, before associating with or hiring an officer, employee, or prospective employee in a position whose duties include entry into a person's residence, to obtain from the Department of Public Safety (DPS) or a private vendor all criminal record history information relating to the individual, or to ascertain that the individual holds in good standing an occupational license issued by a licensing authority that performed a criminal history background check before license issuance or renewal. The bill establishes that for liability purposes it is rebuttably presumed that a company did not negligently hire an employee if, at the time the person was hired, the company obtained the criminal history record information from DPS and that the information showed an absence of certain criminal convictions or deferred adjudications. The bill amends the Government Code to make conforming changes.