Georgia Bill Would Require Background Checks on Workers Sent Into Homes

A Georgia Republican is pushing a measure that would require employers to perform background checks on staffers who work inside other people’s homes.

The measure sponsored by state Rep. Allen Peake of Macon would also ban some criminals from jobs that would send them into homes.

Peake is pushing the measure after the 2008 assault of a nanny who was raped while she watching a 3-year-old girl.

Police charged Rudolph Valentino Smith, a 44-year-old who worked for a cleaning company, with the assault. Corrections officials say Smith was convicted of six felonies since 1986 ranging from robbery to voluntary manslaughter.

The measure is pending in committee. Peake said he hoped lawmakers sign off on it because “we have a responsibility to protect our family members.”