New Mexico Statutes 29-17-4. Definitions
As used in the Caregivers Criminal History Screening Act:
Terms Used In New Mexico Statutes 29-17-4
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
- Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
- Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
A. “applicant” means a person who seeks and is offered employment or contractual service as a caregiver or hospital caregiver with a care provider;
B. “caregiver” means a person, not otherwise required to undergo a nationwide criminal history screening by the New Mexico Children’s and Juvenile Facility and Program Criminal Records Screening Act [N.M. Stat. Ann. Chapter 32A, Article 15], whose employment or contractual service with a care provider includes direct care or routine and unsupervised physical or financial access to any care recipient served by that provider;
C. “care provider” or “provider” means a skilled nursing facility; an intermediate care facility; a care facility for individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities; a general acute care facility; a psychiatric facility; a rehabilitation facility; a home health agency; a homemaker agency; a home for the aged or disabled; a group home; an adult foster care home; a guardian service provider; a case management entity that provides services to people with developmental disabilities; a private residence that provides personal care, adult residential care or nursing care for two or more persons not related by blood or marriage to the facility’s operator or owner; an adult daycare center; a boarding home; an adult residential care home; a residential service or habilitation service authorized to be reimbursed by medicaid; any licensed or medicaid-certified entity or any program funded by the aging and long-term services department that provides respite, companion or personal care services; or programs funded by the children, youth and families department that provide homemaker or adult daycare services. “Care provider” or “provider” does not include resident care facilities located at or performing services exclusively for any correctional facility, outpatient treatment facilities, diagnostic and treatment facilities, ambulatory surgical centers and facilities, end-stage renal dialysis and treatment facilities, rural health clinics, private physicians’ offices or other clinics that operate in the same manner as private physicians’ offices in group practice settings;
D. “care recipient” means any person under the care of a provider who has a physical or mental illness, injury or disability or who suffers from any cognitive impairment that restricts or limits the person’s activities;
E. “conviction” means a plea, judgment or verdict of guilty, a plea of nolo contendere, an Alford plea or any plea or judgment entered in connection with a suspended sentence, in this state or any other state or jurisdiction;
F. “hospital caregiver” means a person who provides direct unsupervised patient care in an inpatient setting and is not a licensed New Mexico health care professional practicing within the scope of a profession’s license;
G. “nationwide criminal history screening” means a criminal history background investigation of an applicant, caregiver or hospital caregiver through the use of fingerprints collected by the department of public safety and submitted to the federal bureau of investigation, resulting in generation of a nationwide criminal history record for that applicant, caregiver or hospital caregiver;
H. “nationwide criminal history record” means information concerning a person’s arrests, indictments or other formal criminal charges and any dispositions arising therefrom, including convictions, dismissals, acquittals, sentencing and correctional supervision, and collected by criminal justice agencies; and
I. “statewide criminal history screening” means a criminal history background investigation of an applicant or caregiver through the comparison of identifying information with the department of public safety’s criminal record repository.