After the arrest of Des Moines Public Schools’ superintendent, an Iowa official warned the leader of a firm that conducts background checks for the district that he could face criminal charges for failing to obtain a state license.
Jimmy Waters, the CEO of Council Bluffs-based 3rd Degree Screening, said an Iowa Department of Public Safety official told him in a Jan. 27 call that he needed to register as a private investigator. According to a letter the official sent Waters the next day, failing to obtain a state license could be a crime.
The incident underscores how state officials have tried to tighten background checks into public job applicants since the Sept. 23 arrest of Ian Roberts, the Guyanese immigrant who held DMPS’ top job despite lacking work authorization for about five years. Roberts has since pleaded guilty to lying on employment paperwork and illegally possessing firearms…