(a) An applicant for certification, applicant for public employment, or public current employee under review with the State Department of Education or local employing board, who has or will have unsupervised access to a child or children in an educational setting, shall, upon request, submit the following items to the State Department of Education:

(1) Two functional acceptable fingerprint cards, bearing the fingerprints of the individual, properly executed by a criminal justice agency or other individual properly trained in fingerprinting techniques.

(2) Written consent authorizing the release of any criminal history background information to the State Department of Education.

(3) Acknowledgment that the applicant for certification, applicant for public employment, or public current employee under review received notice that the State Superintendent of Education will provide a suitability determination, based upon criminal history information reports and suitability criteria for public employment, to the applicant, current employee under review, and local employing board.

(4) A nonrefundable fee in the amount and manner specified by the Department of Public Safety. Any fee required in conjunction with a criminal history background information check of a public current employee under review shall be paid by the requesting employing entity.

(b) An applicant for nonpublic employment, nonpublic current employee, or nonpublic current employee under review, who has or will have unsupervised access to a child or children in an educational setting, shall, upon request, submit the following items to the chief executive officer of the nonpublic school who shall forward such information to the Department of Public Safety:

(1) Two functional acceptable fingerprint cards, bearing the fingerprints of the individual, properly executed by a criminal justice agency or other individual properly trained in fingerprinting techniques.

(2) Written consent authorizing the release of any criminal history background information to the State Superintendent of Education.

(3) Acknowledgment that the applicant for nonpublic employment, nonpublic current employee, or nonpublic current employee under review received notice that the State Superintendent of Education will provide a suitability determination based upon the Alabama Bureau of Investigation and Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history information reports and the suitability criteria for nonpublic employment defined herein to the chief executive officer of the nonpublic school.

(4) A nonrefundable fee in the amount and manner specified by the Department of Public Safety. Any fee required in conjunction with a criminal history background information check of a nonpublic current employee under review shall be paid by the requesting employing entity. Any fee required in conjunction with a criminal history background information check of a nonpublic current employee shall be paid by the State Department of Education, unless a court of competent jurisdiction determines that public funds may not be used for this purpose, then the fee shall be paid by the employer or the employee.

(c) The State Department of Education, local employing board, or other authorized public educational employer, may only request a criminal history background information check on a current employee or a current employee under review, who has unsupervised access to a child or children in an educational setting, through the chief executive officer.

(d) A nonpublic school employer may only request a criminal history background information check on a current employee or a current employee under review, who has unsupervised access to a child or children in an educational setting, through the chief executive officer of the nonpublic school employer.