Really? The best you can come up with? Yeah, our legal system is in great hands.

His statement is not inaccurate. Did you ever try thinking that in the UK, the response to a BI is referred to as a police report?

Well genius, how the hell is someone going to come up with a criminal conviction if they haven't been convicted? It doesn't mean that the person hasn't committed an illegal act, of course. But it is beyond stupid to say that the background check will only show a conviction if the person was convicted. It doesn't take a Rhode's scholar to figure that one out.

At least if they do have a criminal conviction, it should come up.

I'd much rather see safeguards put in place that actually prevent unknown adults from having unsupervised access to children. Officiating HS sports should never give us that access, whether we have background checks or not. Aside from the false sense of securit, my real concerns are two-fold:
1. Who has access to all this information, and how is it stored?
2. Who decides what background items would disqualify one from officiating?

CO has implemented a background check. We need to provide an arrest record and account for the disposition of any arrests that show up.
We have to pay the CBI $7 every three years for this.

In NY the officials are fingerprinted. That way they can't use a fake identity, social security, etc. to get around their criminal convictions. If they have a fingerprintable offense on file, it will come up. The fingerprinting is done though the NYS Dept of Education, which has access to all prints in DCJS (Department of Criminal Justice Services). Should someone be arrested, the NYS DOE gets notification from DCJS automatically.

And the DoE charges $91.50 and BOSCES charges another $25 service charge to do it!

Plus as sports officials, we have NO unsupervised access to the children.

Adam, that is what is known as parenting and there is where the problem starts. If the parents would act as parents and give proper regard to their children and their lives, many of these issues would be non-existent.

Yup. We have to kick back a varsity fee for a lifetime of year-round officiating.

That's BS! There's no way in hell that it costs $91.50 for them to run an electronic BC, and it certainly isn't going to cost $25 for a BOSCES employee to fingerprint me. That'll take 3 minutes! Plus, I needed an appointment before lunch. Granted I made it for a day I'm doing a college game out that way, but now I have to leave work an hour earlier.

It's highway robbery! And the excuse that it's only one game fee is BS too. As a new umpire, I have to start at the lower level with the lower fee.

Charge me what it cost to perform these services. Don't use it as a revenue generator.

I had to have one in Pa, as I cooked in a daycare last year, and it only cost $35 total!

I disagree. There's always the chance that your partner is a minor. I've worked a few ASA games with kids that were under 18.

Also, I've been at the park recovering from my game, and I've seen plenty of individual kids sitting and waiting for a parent or older sibling to come pick them up. It floors me that a coach wouldn't wait with that kid until the parent or sibling shows up. Unlike some random stranger, it's not inconceivable for an umpire, who has already displayed a sense of authority in that kid's mind while working the game, to convince the kid to hop in the car for a ride home. I will take my time recovering and stick around until the kid's ride comes through.

I remember when I was in high school and cut class, the vice principal told me that the offense would go on my permanent record....
I wonder if they caught that on my background check.

Best Background checks / safety
 

In my opinion, the organization with the best background check policy and safety policy is USA Swimming. Each coach and official is required to pass a level two background check every 2 years, plus take athlete protection training online course.

At practices it is up to the host club to handle access to locker rooms and the pool deck. At meets (when possible, not always possible at outdoor meets), the host club is required to allow only three groups of people on deck. First is officials who have passed their background check. Second is coaches who have passed their background check. Third is volunteers who are not required to be background checked, but must be registered with meet management. Each person who is on deck is required to wear a deck credential. Failure to have a credential can result in you being removed from the deck and additional punishment through USA Swimming. In addition, USA Swimming limits the use of photographic devices on the pool deck. People caught with a camera out behind the starting blocks can and should be removed from the pool deck.

Nothing is perfect for preventing assaults on children, because much of the time the situation does not involve officials, but coaches who get much less public time with athletes.

Received this today:
"ALL UMPIRES who wish to umpire ANY ASA games in the state of ... snip ... are required to have a background check starting this year. It is not an option.

If you refuse to have a background check, you must notify me no later than Friday April 25th. This will allow me to refund your dues and to remove your name from the ASA registration that goes to the National Office. ... snip ...

There was a big article about a convicted sex offender in Alabama working a youth USSSA game. Had a background check been performed, this individual would not have been assigned any youth games.

Again, this is not up for debate. If I do not hear from you, then I will assume you are okay with the background check and you will be assigned league games and work tournaments etc. If you attended a state or regional clinic then you would also be eligible for state, regional, and national tournaments. If you are NOT OKAY with it, then you must notify me no later than April 25th so you can be removed from registration and therefore, not work any ASA games. Your dues will be refunded to you.

Whether you agree with it or not, this is the society we now live in and it is what it is.

I thank you all for your cooperation and look forward to a great season.
"

Background checks have been available at a reasonable price (about $5 each) to ASA Associations for several years; and some, but not all, have mandated it for their umpires. And some have also done their staff and tournament directors.

At the latest ASA Board of Directors meeting (March 29) following the Alabama news report hitting the news wires, it is now mandated for 2015 for all associations; umpires and RegisterASA team and league administrators. Your Commissioner is just getting ahead of the curve; it has been done here in Georgia ASA for 3-4 years.

Certainly agree it is a "feel-good" solution with no real effect; other than being able to say you have done everything reasonably possible to limit exposure and/or liability.

I have also been told that any ASA umpire that works any games at Hall of Fame Stadium in OKC must pass a background check starting this year.

This includes all Adult FP and SP play.

In my association, we identify umpires as to the games they work. If they only work adult SP, we do not submit them to a background check.

We do have to stay on top of this, as the umpire could decide halfway through the season that they wish to work youth FP, but it hasn't been an issue so far.