Volunteers to Undergo Background Checks

Volunteers who respond to pleas for help in the wake of disasters will have to undergo criminal background checks if they want to help children, the elderly or the disabled. State Public Safety Director Mark James says the FBI has given the State Emergency Management Agency authority to submit fingerprints to the National Criminal Data Base to make sure the volunteers who respond are true volunteers, not predators in disguise. James says the FBI gave temporary authority in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and Missouri applied to continue the practice. Both SEMA and the State Highway Patrol will be involved.