Infrastructure protectionArizona County to fingerprint employees with access to sensitive facilities

Published 4 January 2011

Pima County, Arizona, is moving to fingerprint more employees who work with kids and populations who need special assistance, who deal with sensitive data, or who have access to critical infrastructure facilities such as wastewater treatment plants; “We don’t want guys with criminal backgrounds knowing how our radio system is constructed. The same with wastewater, which could be compromised,” John Moffatt, the county’s director of Strategic Technology Planning, said

Pima County, Arizona, is moving to fingerprint more employees who work with kids and populations who need special assistance, or who deal with sensitive data.

Employees in several departments, including the Sheriff’s Department, Community Services, Parks, and Pima Health Systems, already have to be fingerprinted because of their job requirements.

When special projects or circumstances cropped up, however, including the creation of a new public safety radio network, or IT employees needed access to Sheriff’s Department data, those departments found they would have to get special permission from the Pima County Board of Supervisors to fingerprint employees for background checks.

The Arizona Star Daily reports that instead of weighing that approval each time, the board will consider a new ordinance Tuesday to allow departments to do a fingerprint-based background check for employees who fall into those sensitive job descriptions, said John Moffatt, the county’s director of Strategic Technology Planning.

The proposal does not give departments authority to fingerprint all employees on a whim but still calls for an evaluation based on the job description and duties, said Gwyn Hatcher, Pima County Human Resources director.

If the Board of Supervisors gives the OK Tuesday, the county will still need to hold a public hearing on the proposed ordinance and report back to the board, which could then decide whether to adopt the ordinance. The goal is to accomplish all of that in the next two months, Moffatt said.

Another change: The wastewater department is considered “critical infrastructure,” which means the federal Department of Homeland Security has identified it as system that could be at risk, like water systems and other necessary infrastructure.

We don’t want guys with criminal backgrounds knowing how our radio system is constructed. The same with wastewater, which could be compromised,” Moffatt said.

The proposal applies also to those who deal with confidential medical records, and those who have access to Social Security numbers or bank accounts, according to a memo by Chuck Huckelberry, Pima County administrator.

The documented, increased threats to critical infrastructure, as well as increasing awareness of the risks associated with the county’s fiduciary and operational responsibilities, results in the need to perform more in-depth background checks for those individuals performing specific jobs that involve access to certain vulnerable individuals, restricted information or critical locations,” Huckelberry said in the memo.