(a) The secretary of revenue may require, as a qualification for initial or continuing employment or contracting with the department of revenue, all persons having access to federal tax information received directly from the internal revenue service to be fingerprinted and submit to a state and national criminal history record check. The fingerprints shall be used to identify the person and to determine whether the person has a record of criminal arrests and convictions in this state or other jurisdictions. The secretary is authorized to submit the fingerprints to the Kansas bureau of investigation and the federal bureau of investigation for a state and national criminal history record check. Local and state law enforcement officers and agencies shall assist the secretary in the taking and processing of fingerprints of such persons and shall release all records of a person’s arrests and convictions to the secretary.

(b) The secretary may use the information obtained from fingerprinting and a person’s criminal history only for the purposes of verifying the identification of such person and in the official determination of the fitness of such person’s qualification for initial or continuing employment. Disclosure or use of any information received by the secretary or a designee of the secretary for any purpose other than the purpose provided for in this section shall be a class A nonperson misdemeanor and shall constitute grounds for removal from office or termination of employment. Nothing in this section shall prevent disclosure of any information received by the secretary pursuant to this section to the post auditor in accordance with the provisions of the legislative post audit act.

(c) Whenever the secretary requires fingerprinting, any associated costs shall be paid by the agency or contractor.