Governor Jindal Signs Legislation That Helps Protect Communities And Campuses From Sex Offenders

BATON ROUGE – Governor Bobby Jindal signed HB 259 by Representative Champagne into law. This bill ensures that background checks requested by higher education institutions on potential employees not only include all past convictions for any crime but also include arrests for any sex offenses and violent crimes. This closes a loophole in a law signed by Governor Jindal last year. This law will further decrease the likelihood that college students and high school students on college campuses are exposed to university employees who are sex offenders or violent offenders. This bill was part of the Governor’s 2014 Legislative Package.

Governor Jindal said, “One of our top priorities is keeping our campuses and students safe. This law will help us ensure that our universities are safe from potentially dangerous sex offenders. This bill means it will be easier for our higher education systems to identify possible dangerous individuals and have confidence that new employees are not a danger to our communities.”

Representative Champagne said, “I was pleased to work with Governor Jindal on this legislation that will make Louisiana college campuses safer from potential sex predators. Our students deserve the very best we can offer in terms of security protections so they can know the universities they are attending are safe from dangerous individuals.”