Ohio Administrative Code
Title 5101:9 - ODJFS Practices
Chapter 5101:9-9 - Federal Tax Return Information Safeguarding Procedures
Section 5101:9-9-26 - Safeguarding federal tax information (FTI) using background investigations
Universal Citation: OH Admin Code 5101:9-9-26
Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) Definitions used in this rule.
(1) "Federal Tax
Information " (FTI) is any return or return information received
from the internal revenue service (IRS), or secondary source, such as the
social security administration (SSA), federal office of child support
enforcement (OCSE), or U.S. department of the treasury, including the bureau of
the fiscal service, centers for medicare and medicaid services (CMS) and also
includes any information created and/or maintained by the Ohio department of
job and family services (ODJFS) or a county agency that is derived from these
sources.
(2) "Return and Return
Information." A return is any tax or information return, estimated tax
declaration, or refund claim (including amendments, supplements, supporting
schedules, attachments or lists) required by or permitted under the internal
revenue code (IRC) and filed with the IRS by, on behalf of, or with respect to
any person or agency. Return information includes:
(a) The potential liability of any person
under the IRC for any tax, penalty, interest, fine, forfeiture, or other
imposition or offense.
(b) The
taxpayer's name, address and identification number.
(c) Personally identifiable information
(PII), including:
(i) The name of a person
with respect to whom a return is filed.
(ii) The taxpayer mailing address.
(iii) The taxpayer identification
number.
(iv) Email
addresses.
(v) Telephone
number(s).
(vi) Social security
number(s).
(vii) The date and place
of birth.
(viii) The mother's
maiden name.
(ix) The biometric
data (e.g. height, weight, eye color, fingerprints).
(x)
Bank account
information.
(xi) Any combination of
the PII identified in this paragraph.
(3) "County Agency" means the county
department of job and family services, the public children services agency, and
the child support enforcement agency. This definition is intended to be the
same as "County Family Services Agency" used in section
307.981 of the Revised
Code.
(4) "County Agency
Contractor" means any governmental or non-governmental entity, which can
include an individual, that receives funds from the county agency, whether
directly or indirectly, to provide services, assistance, or benefits to
individuals or that performs duties or activities for the county agency
pursuant to a contract, grant, or other agreement. County agencies authorized
to receive FTI to administer temporary assistance for needy families (TANF),
supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) and medicaid are prohibited
from contracting for services that allow disclosure of or access to FTI in
those programs.
(5) A "final
candidate" is an individual, whether or not currently employed by a county
agency, who has submitted an application for employment at the county agency
and who has received an offer of employment conditioned upon a favorable
adjudication of an FBI and BCI fingerprint background check.
(B) Safeguarding FTI using background investigations; general provisions.
(1) All final candidates, current employees,
current and prospective intermittent employees, county agency
contractors/contract employees, subcontractors,
or temporary service personnel that have access to or use FTI shall be subject
to a background check that meets the requirements of IRS publication 1075, "Tax
Information Security Guidelines for Federal, State and Local Agencies." Once an
initial background check has been successfully completed and the final
candidate, current employee, current or prospective intermittent employee,
county agency contractor/contract employee, subcontractor, or temporary service personnel is found
to be suitable for access to FTI, reinvestigation shall occur at least every
five
years, at a minimum, from the date it was initially determined that the
individual is suitable for access to FTI, if remaining in a position with
access to FTI.
(2) Effective
September 30, 2019, to maintain access to systems containing FTI, all current
employees, intermittent employees, county agency contractors/contract employees
and temporary service personnel that have access to or use FTI shall have
submitted to an FBI and BCI fingerprint background check.
(3) Effective October 1, 2019, prior to being
granted access to FTI, all final candidates, prospective intermittent
employees, prospective county agency contractors/contract employees,
subcontractors, and prospective temporary service
personnel shall complete an FBI and BCI fingerprint background check and
investigation that is favorably adjudicated in accordance with the written
policy developed by the county agency pursuant to paragraph (B)(5) of this
rule.
(4) Effective December 31,
2019, to maintain access to systems containing FTI, all current employees,
intermittent employees, county agency contractors/contract employees, subcontractors, and temporary service personnel that
have access to or use FTI shall have submitted to an FBI and BCI fingerprint
background check and investigation that is favorably adjudicated in accordance
with the written policy developed by the county agency pursuant to paragraph
(B)(5) of this rule.
(5) Effective
September 3, 2019, county agencies shall develop a written policy requiring all
final candidates, employees, current and prospective intermittent employees,
county agency contractors/contract employees, subcontractors, and temporary service personnel with
access to FTI to submit to an FBI and BCI fingerprint background check and
investigation that is favorably adjudicated.
(6) Background investigations conducted by
the county agencies for final candidates, employees, current and prospective
intermittent employees, county agency contractors/contract employees,
subcontractors, and temporary services personnel
who are or will be granted access to FTI shall include, at a minimum:
(a) FBI finger printing (FD-258), a review of
federal bureau of investigation (FBI) fingerprint results conducted to identify
possible suitability issues.
(b)
Ohio bureau of criminal investigation (BCI) finger printing, a review of the
BCI fingerprint results conducted to identify possible suitability
issues.
(c) Citizenship/residency.
Validate the individual's eligibility to legally work in the United States
(e.g., a United States citizen or foreign citizen with the necessary
authorization.)
(C) Safeguarding FTI using background investigations; policy guidance.
(1) County
agencies are required to have a policy that requires final candidates,
employees, current and prospective intermittent employees, county agency
contractors/contract employees, subcontractors,
and temporary services personnel, who will use or have access to FTI to
complete an FBI and BCI fingerprint background check and investigation that is
favorably adjudicated. This policy will identify the process, steps,
timeframes, and favorability standards that the county agency has adopted. The
policy shall establish the criteria upon which final candidates, employees,
current and prospective intermittent employees, county agency
contractors/contract employees, subcontractors,
and temporary services personnel, would have access to FTI denied or withdrawn.
County agencies may use ODJFS' model background check policy, as outlined in
the appendix to this rule, or design their own substantial
equivalent.
(2) A county agency
shall identify in its policy any criminal convictions that may disqualify final
candidates, employees, current and prospective intermittent employees, county
agency contractors/contract employees, subcontractors, and temporary services personnel from
having access to FTI based upon the criminal record, the nature of the duties
of the position held or applied for, and the nature of the access to FTI.
County agencies should consult, at a minimum, sections
2921.02,
2921.41
,
2921.43
and
2961.02
of the Revised
Code, when identifying potentially disqualifying offenses.
(3) A county agency shall set forth in its
policy or procedure the factors it will consider when determining if an
individual with a criminal record should be adjudicated favorably. Factors that
county agencies may want to consider are:
(a)
Relationship of the criminal record to access to the type of FTI used or
accessible in the position.
(b)
Nature of work to be performed.
(c)
The time that has lapsed since the conviction.
(d) The age of the individual at the time of
the offense.
(e) The seriousness
and specific circumstances of the offense, including the type of harm that the
individual caused, and/or the legal elements involved in the specific crime
committed.
(f) The number of
offenses on the criminal record.
(g) Whether the individual has pending
charges.
(h) Any evidence of
rehabilitation or contrition.
(i)
Any other relevant information, including that submitted by or on behalf of the
individual, or other information obtained by the county agency.
(4) A county agency shall set
forth in its policy or procedure the notification, appeal, and final
determination process that it will offer to final candidates, current and
prospective employees, intermittent employees, county agency
contractors/contract employees, subcontractors
and temporary service personnel, for those with convictions who are not
favorably adjudicated as being eligible for access to FTI.
(D) Remedial action.
A county agency found to have failed to conduct background investigations in accordance with this rule and IRS publication 1075, or who has failed to create a policy as described in paragraph (B) of this rule, shall be notified of these failures by ODJFS in writing within thirty days after completion of the investigation or review. Any action taken by ODJFS to bring the county agency into compliance with this rule and IRS publication 1075 shall be done pursuant to section 5101.24 of the Revised Code. Examples of remedial action include corrective action plans or the withholding of funds. The county agency is responsible to ensure that county agency contractors or subcontractors that currently have or will have access to FTI or who provide contract employees to county agencies who currently have or will have access to FTI to secure FBI and BCI fingerprint checks that are favorably adjudicated. ODJFS may take action against the county agency pursuant to section 5101.24 of the Revised Code if the county agency fails to obtain compliance by the county agency contractor.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Ohio may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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