Stakeholders Reach Consensus on Background Check Requirements For Retail Energy Door-to-Door Agents

Stakeholders in Maryland have reached consensus changes to recently adopted rules requiring retail suppliers to conduct background checks on door-to-door agents, with the consensus changes addressing concerns that the adopted proposal's sources through which background checks were to be conducted were subject to potential information gaps.

As previously reported, background checks were included in recent consumer protection rules adopted under RM54 (click here for prior story for specifics on the new rules; rules were adopted as published in December)

The compliance deadline for retail suppliers concerning all requirements of the new rules had been extended to May 1, 2016, and the PSC had invited further proposals to address any issues regarding the background checks.

Stakeholders in a workgroup propose that the PSC extend the waiver from the current background check requirements beyond May 1 until the consensus changes are adopted by rule. In the interim, the workgroup states that, "With the understanding that the suppliers will implement background checks as established under these proposed regulations during the regulation adoption period, this filing should represent a consensus of the parties."

Specifically, with regard to conducting background checks, the consensus changes would provide that the criminal history shall be obtained under either of two avenues (with the second avenue representing an addition from the currently adopted rule).

Under the consensus changes, the criminal history record shall be updated no less than every 36 months, and shall be obtained from either:

(1) the Maryland Criminal Justice Information System and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, through the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, and from all other states in which the person resided within at least the last 12 months; or

(2) a criminal history records check conducted by the supplier or a third party that includes, at a minimum, the following:

(a) An All-County search through the Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts, and from all other states in which the person resided within at least the last 12 months;

(b) A nationwide federal criminal court search, such as the Federal Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) System;

(c) A national multi-State Multi-Jurisdictional criminal database search with validation conducted by a member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners; and

(d) The U.S. Department of Justice National Sex Offender Public Registry.