AUGUSTA – Lawmakers on Wednesday peppered Public Safety Commissioner Michael Cantara with questions about the state’s backlog of fingerprinting and criminal background checks, and how best to implement the laws requiring such investigations for various occupations.

They also were puzzled by the possibility that teachers who already have been fingerprinted and submitted to background checks would have to go through the process again.

“I don’t understand these figures in the budget,” said Rep. Steven Bowen, R-Rockland, a member of the Legislature’s Appropriation Committee. “There are only 16,000 or 17,000 teachers in the state and you are listing 14,000 a year for fingerprinting. When are we going to be done with this? What are you doing, counting each finger separately?”

Cantara said the numbers in the budget document are in error and that fewer fingerprints will be taken by state police over the two-year state budget period that begins July 1, 2005.

But he said Department of Education officials have informed him that a new teacher re-certification process will result in more background checks.

“Are you serious, are we going to have to be fingerprinted again?” Bowen, a teacher, asked Cantara.

The commissioner responded that it is his understanding the new certification process will require another background check and fingerprinting at $49 a person. He said the rationale for another background probe is to check for criminal activity since the first background check was conducted.

No one asked and Cantara did not explain why fingerprints would have to be retaken to perform the new background checks.

But the issue before the committee was broader than the teacher checks that have generated controversy since first required under former-Gov. Angus King’s administration in 1999.

The proposed Public Safety Department budget includes an additional occupation requiring fingerprinting and background checks – Certified Nursing Assistant. It is projected 3,900 background checks of CNAs will occur over the two-year budget cycle.

The department’s Bureau of Identification conducted about 350,000 background checks in 2004, including requests from the private sector as well as checks required for public sector workers such as teachers, school employees, and child protective workers.

Such checks are designed to protect children, human services clients and patients from abusers and from criminal activities, as well as to potentially identify terrorists.

“We don’t have the staff to handle the volume of work, and since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, the demand has increased dramatically,” Cantara said.

He said that in the new services, or Part II budget, Gov. John Baldacci will propose adding five new people to work in the bureau to deal with the growing demand for background checks. Those five new positions will help the situation, but still won’t be enough to address the demand, Cantara said.

Some members of the Appropriations Committee questioned whether the state police should be the only law enforcement organization to do the fingerprinting. Rep. Jeremy Fischer, D-Presque Isle, suggested other police agencies could fingerprint at less cost and with more convenience.

“I cannot understand why we can’t let our local police do this fingerprinting,” he said. “I have talked with my local chief and he said, ‘Bring it on, we will do what we can to help.'”

Cantara said he was not sure if there is anything in state law that would allow local police to conduct the fingerprinting, but he agreed it is an idea worth exploring.

Sen. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, suggested the state explore hiring and training civilian staff to conduct fingerprinting. He said it should cost far less to employ nonpolice staff than to pay state troopers or local police to fingerprint individuals.

“It costs the state about $100,000 a year for a trooper,” he said. “We have better things for them to be doing than standing around all day doing fingerprinting.”

After the public hearing, Cantara said he will explore all of the options suggested by committee members and also obtain accurate numbers concerning anticipating fingerprinting demands.

The budget provisions reviewed during the hearing Wednesday will be discussed again during a work session next month.