Starting July 1, employees of child-care facilities will be required to sign a statement saying they have not been convicted of a violent crime.
This is one of several new laws taking effect Tuesday. Nearly 200 appropriations bills take effect that day. These bills authorize a $7 billion state budget with funding for all state agencies, including education, corrections and human services.
Rep. Ron Peters, R-Tulsa, said the child-care law was proposed after another lawmaker discovered a person convicted of child abuse was working in a child-care center.
Peters was House author of Senate Bill 1601 calling for the legislation.
The new child-care law also requires operators to check a database annually to see if their employees' names show up.
The database can be accessed by going to the Department of Corrections Web site at www.doc.state.ok.us.
Once at the Web site, a person can click a tab at the top titled "offenders." This will bring up the Oklahoma Sex and Violent Crime Offender Registry. The name of the person being checked can be entered into the database.