When Laura Carlson graduates this spring with a nursing degree, she'll likely have to subject herself to an FBI criminal background check before she can get a job in North Dakota. That doesn't bother the 23-year-old Fargo resident at all.

"I think it's a good idea, especially in our field," the North Dakota State University nursing student said. "You have access to narcotics, and you have access to all the personal information in (a patient's) life.

"Working in a hospital, in a professional atmosphere, they should know about us," Carlson said.

If a bill working its way through the North Dakota Legislature becomes law - it's been unanimously endorsed by the state Senate - everyone from jailers to staffers in North Dakota's budget office will be required to undergo a federal criminal history check before they may get a job. The requirement also could apply to anyone from dentists to real estate agents.

The legislation was prompted by the killing last September of Valley City State University student Mindy Morgenstern. Moe Gibbs, a former Barnes County jailer who changed his name from Glen Dale Morgan Jr. in August 2005, is charged with murder in Morgenstern's death, and also faces charges that he sexually abused female inmates at the jail.

An FBI background check was not conducted on Gibbs before he was hired as a jailer, and his new name helped hide the fact that Gibbs served 5½ years for attempted murder while he was in the Navy.

Morgenstern's death "was the impetus for action," said Sen. Larry Robinson, D-Valley City, who knew the student and has a button with her photo on it in his desk drawer in the Senate chambers. "It caused us all to realize that we have a number of serious loopholes in the present system."

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said the Gibbs case was not the only reason for an increased emphasis on background checks. They are also easier to do, he said.

"Fifteen years ago, fingerprints were not particularly useful," he said. "Computer programs didn't exist to match the fingerprint you had with all the others on file."

Cathy Milhoan, an FBI spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., said North Dakota is "above average" in having laws to authorize or require criminal background checks.

"There are currently 14 such statutes in North Dakota," she said. "In other states the range is from zero to over 100 statutes, with a number of states having less than five."

Stenehjem believes North Dakota is part of a larger trend. "Unfortunate cases like what happened (in Valley City) are happening nationally," he said.

The bill would require FBI fingerprint background checks for all corrections workers in North Dakota, including those who are staffing county jails.

Aaron Birst, a spokesman for the North Dakota Association of Counties, said North Dakota's four largest counties - Cass, Burleigh, Ward and Grand Forks - have required federal background checks for corrections workers for years.

Birst estimated that more than half of the state's 53 counties require the checks, though he did not know how many began doing so only after Morgenstern's death.

Mountrail County Sheriff Ken Halvorson, a former president of the North Dakota Sheriffs and Deputies Association, believes most counties already require jailer applicants to undergo the FBI check. Halvorson said Mountrail County has been doing checks for 15 years.

"There's nothing more embarrassing than to hire somebody and then find out after you put them in place that they're wanted someplace or they have a criminal history," he said. "That's very embarrassing, not only for the employing agency, but … the whole county."

Barnes County Sheriff Gene Bjerke said his county started requiring jailer applicants to undergo the national check after Morgenstern's death. He said checks have been done on two potential employees, neither of whom had a criminal history.

Stenehjem said the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which is part of the attorney general's office, handles about 7,000 federal criminal history checks each year. The legislation would more than double that number, to about 15,000.

The bill requires background checks for some professions, and allows them for others. State law must authorize an FBI criminal background check of someone for employment or licensing reasons before it can be done.

North Dakota's Board of Nursing, which would have the option of requiring checks, would account for about 2,400 requests each year, Stenehjem said. Constance Kalanek, director of the state nursing board, said she supports the bill.

"Nurses have consistently been rated by the public as one of the most honest and ethical professions," she said. "This bill … preserves the excellent reputation of the nursing profession."

Kalanek said the background check measure also will enable the nursing board to continue being a part of the Nurse Licensure Compact, which includes 20 states. Nurses with a license in one state can practice in the others.

Stenehjem said several other groups want to be included in the legislation, including the North Dakota Long Term Care Association, which represents nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

President Shelly Peterson said the industry is anticipating federal regulations that would mandate FBI criminal history checks for employees. Right now, only state checks are done in North Dakota, she said.

"The vast majority of states require (the federal checks), but North Dakota has just not stepped on board," Peterson said. "Now that there seems to be support statewide for criminal background checks, it would seem to be a good time to implement it."

If the Long Term Care Association is included, Stenehjem said, it would increase annual requests to his office by up to 16,000, "which would be huge."

The proposed budget for the attorney general's office now includes four new employees for the Bureau of Criminal Investigation to handle the expected increase in background checks. Three workers handle the job at present.

Background checks cost $52, and are paid for by the job applicant or the agency requesting the check. Stenehjem said the BCI needs a full-time worker for every 2,000 requests for FBI criminal history checks.

The state Board of Medical Examiners, which licenses doctors, has had the ability since 2003 to request federal background checks, but has not done so. Duane Houdek, the board's executive secretary, said the board is now exploring the idea, and likely will make a decision next month.

Houdek said fewer than half of the states have doctor licensing boards that are authorized to conduct federal criminal background checks.

"The advantage is knowing that no one is slipping in that we don't know about, that we have a full understanding of who we're granting a license to," he said.

The bill is SB2260.