Louisiana Gives State Insurance Department Access to Expunged Arrest Records
June 1, 2012 by Michael Buck
Michael Buck |
The Louisiana Legislaturethinks the state’s Department of Insuranceshould have access to criminal arrest records that have been expunged.
The House on Wednesday passed Senate Bill 213, which gives the department access to the records. The bill passed the state Senate in March.
The state allows a number of state agencies in the legal and health fields access to expunged arrest records, such as the state Board of Medical Examiners and the Louisiana Supreme Court Committee on Bar Admissions.
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said his department will use its new access for disciplinary proceedings and licensing applications.
“To not know what criminal activities have been engaged in limits our ability to do that effectively,” Donelon said.
Donelon said there were a large number of instances where people told the department on applications that they had not been arrested, “then finding out later through other means, that wasn’t true.”
“We felt like … we just needed to get access to this information so that we could know what we’re dealing with,” Donelon said.
This measure is unlikely to impact the licensing process and it might protect the integrity of insurance agents, said Jody M. Boudreaux, executive vice president of the Professional Insurance Agents of Louisiana.
“We want to make sure that we are seen as true professionals, so anything that would deter people that are trying to abuse consumers, we definitely want to keep those people out of the industry,” Broudreaux said.
Records that have been expunged have not been completely destroyed, but rather removed from public view. The state keeps these records for investigative purposes. If the bill is signed by Gov. Bobby Jindal, it will go into effect in August.
(By Michael Buck, senior associate editor, BestWeek: Michael.Buck@ambest.com)
Copyright: |
(c) 2012 A.M. Best Company, Inc. |
Source: |
A.M. Best Company, Inc. |
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