143B-1336. Information technology human resources.

(a) The State CIO may appoint all employees of the Department necessary to carry out the powers and duties of the Department. All employees of the Department are under the supervision, direction, and control of the State CIO, who may assign any function vested in his or her office to any subordinate employee of the Department.

(b) The State CIO shall establish a detailed, standardized, systemic plan for the transition of participating agency personnel to the new organization. This shall include the following:

(1) Documentation of current information technology personnel requirements.

(2) An inventory of current agency information technology personnel and their skills.

(3) Analysis and documentation of the gaps between current personnel and identified requirements.

(4) An explanation of how the Department plans to fill identified gaps.

(5) The Department's plan to eliminate positions no longer required.

(6) The Department's plan for employees whose skills are no longer required.

For each person to be transferred, the State CIO shall identify a designated position with a job description, determine the cost for the position, identify funding sources, and establish a standardized rate.

(c) Participating agency information technology personnel performing information technology functions shall be moved to the Department. The State CIO shall consolidate participating agency information technology personnel following the time lines established in the plans required by G.S. 143B-1325(b) once a detailed plan has been developed for transitioning the personnel to the new agency.

(d) The State CIO shall establish standard information technology career paths for both management and technical tracks, including defined qualifications, career progression, training requirements, and appropriate compensation. For information technology procurement professionals, the State CIO shall establish a career path that includes defined qualifications, career progression, training requirements, and appropriate compensation. These career paths shall be documented by February 1, 2016, and shall be provided to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Information Technology and the Fiscal Research Division by Feburary 1, 2016, but may be submitted incrementally to meet Department requirements. The career paths shall be updated on an annual basis.

(e) Any new positions established by the Department shall be exempt from the North Carolina Human Resources Act; provided, however, that nonexempt employees transferred from participating agencies to a newly established position in the Department shall not become exempt solely by virtue of that transfer.

(f) The State CIO may, subject to the provisions of G.S. 147-64.7(b)(2), obtain the services of independent public accountants, qualified management consultants, and other professional persons or experts to carry out the powers and duties of this Article if the Department does not have any personnel qualified to perform the function for which the professionals would be engaged and if the requirement has been included in the Department's budget for the year in which the services are required.

(g) Criminal Records Checks. - The State CIO shall require background investigations of any employee or prospective employee, including a criminal history record check, which may include a search of the State and National Repositories of Criminal Histories based on the person's fingerprints. A criminal history record check shall be conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation upon receiving fingerprints and other information provided by the employee or prospective employee. If the employee or prospective employee has been a resident of the State for less than five years, the background report shall include a review of criminal information from both the State and National Repositories of Criminal Histories. The criminal background report shall be provided to the State CIO and is not a public record under Chapter 132 of the General Statutes.