Any person applying for a position as a driver of a vehicle owned by a private carrier company which provides public transportation pursuant to an agreement with the Authority shall be required to authorize an investigation by the private carrier company to determine if the applicant has been convicted of any of the following offenses: (i) those offenses defined in Sections 9-1, 9-1.2, 10-1, 10-2, 10-3.1, 10-4, 10-5, 10-6, 10-7, 11-1.20, 11-1.30, 11-1.40, 11-1.50, 11-1.60, 11-6, 11-9, 11-14, 11-14.3, 11-14.4, 11-15, 11-15.1, 11-16, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, 11-19.1, 11-19.2, 11-20, 11-20.1, 11-20.1B, 11-20.3, 11-21, 11-22, 11-30, 12-4.3, 12-4.4, 12-4.5, 12-6, 12-7.1, 12-11, 12-13, 12-14, 12-14.1, 12-15, 12-16, 12-16.1, 18-1, 18-2, 19-6, 20-1, 20-1.1, 31A-1, 31A-1.1, and 33A-2, in subsection (a) and subsection (b), clause (1), of Section 12-4, in subdivisions (a)(1), (b)(1), and (f)(1) of Section 12-3.05, and in subsection (a-5) of Section 12-3.1 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012; (ii) those offenses defined in the Cannabis Control Act except those offenses defined in subsections (a) and (b) of Section 4, and subsection (a) of Section 5 of the Cannabis Control Act (iii) those offenses defined in the Illinois Controlled Substances Act; (iv) those offenses defined in the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act; and (v) any offense committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws of the United States, which if committed or attempted in this State would be punishable as one or more of the foregoing offenses. Upon receipt of this authorization, the private carrier company shall submit the applicant’s name, sex, race, date of birth, fingerprints and social security number to the Illinois State Police on forms prescribed by the Department. The Illinois State Police shall conduct an investigation to ascertain if the applicant has been convicted of any of the above enumerated offenses. The Department shall charge the private carrier company a fee for conducting the investigation, which fee shall be deposited in the State Police Services Fund and shall not exceed the cost of the inquiry; and the applicant shall not be charged a fee for such investigation by the private carrier company. The Illinois State Police shall furnish, pursuant to positive identification, records of convictions, until expunged, to the private carrier company which requested the investigation. A copy of the record of convictions obtained from the Department shall be provided to the applicant. Any record of conviction received by the private carrier company shall be confidential. Any person who releases any confidential information concerning any criminal convictions of an applicant shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, unless authorized by this Section.