A legislative probe that found criminals working in Utah schools has education officials scrambling to identify the schools — or even better — locate the 17 employees who surfaced with “concerning” criminal convictions, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. But the employee names and schools remain a mystery after the probe’s release. Chances are they will stay that way, barring a change in policy or state law.
The Utah Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Criminal Identification, which ran the criminal screens, is refusing to disclose the information, citing privacy laws. Bound by a special agreement with the bureau, the probe’s authors also refuse. The bureau is free to share criminal records with law enforcement, by court order and under other special conditions. But without “reasonable cause,” state and local education officials have no right to the records, said the bureau’s Alice Erickson.