Volunteer screening in New Hampshire: the complete guide
The statutes that apply, which of your volunteers they reach, which agency runs which check, what organizations here actually get wrong, and the order to do it in.
What makes New Hampshire different
New Hampshire makes it a class A felony for a person convicted of a sexual assault, a felony child-sexual-abuse-image offense or a felony physical assault on a minor to knowingly volunteer in any role serving mainly minors, supervising minors or working one-on-one with them; a 2024 rewrite effective January 1, 2025 broadened this bar, and failing to disclose such a conviction when applying to volunteer is itself a felony (RSA 632-A:10). Youth skill camps, including many sports camps, must keep a background-check policy for volunteers who may be left alone with children and certify it to DHHS every year (RSA 170-E:56, II; He-C 4004.07). New Hampshire’s own credit-reporting law bars background-check companies from reporting arrests or convictions more than 7 years old except for jobs paying $20,000 or more (RSA 359-B:5), though whether that survives federal preemption and whether it reaches volunteer screening are unresolved. After annulment, on payment of a fee of up to $100 that can be waived for indigency, a record is removed from State Police files, and applicants may be asked only about crimes that have not been annulled (RSA 651:5, X).
The short version: New Hampshire has no law requiring every nonprofit to screen volunteers, but checks are mandatory in specific settings: licensed child care (volunteers who might be alone with children or count in staff-to-child ratios, every 5 years; He-C 4002.40), residential child care and child-placing agencies (RSA 170-E:29-a), youth recreation camps and youth skill camps, including sports camps (RSA 170-E:56, II; He-C 4003.17; He-C 4004), health facilities licensed under RSA 151 (volunteers with direct client contact; RSA 151:2-d, II), DHHS-licensed, certified or funded adult programs (BEAS registry; RSA 161-F:49, VII), and public-school volunteers the school board designates (RSA 189:13-a, VII). Towns and counties may require checks for their own volunteer positions (RSA 41:9-b; RSA 28:10-c). It is a felony for a person with certain sexual-assault, child-abuse-image or felony child-assault convictions to volunteer in roles serving mainly minors, supervising them or working one on one with them (RSA 632-A:10).
The statutes, one at a time
These are the laws that create the obligation. Read the citation, not a summary of it, before you build a policy around it.
- 1
School Employee and Designated School Volunteer Criminal History Records Check
RSA 189:13-a
Requires a fingerprint-based State Police and FBI criminal history records check before a final offer of school employment and on designated volunteers, meaning the volunteer categories the school board designates by policy; other volunteers need not be checked. The applicant or designated volunteer submits the State Police release form and fingerprints to the school, which may charge the actual cost, and records must be destroyed within 60 days. Nonpublic schools may opt in. Since 2023, suspended or revoked educators may not volunteer.
- 2
Child Care Personnel Background Check
RSA 170-E:7; RSA 170-E:29-a
Requires an FBI fingerprint check and registry searches for licensed child care owners, household members, directors and everyone DHHS rules list, including volunteers who might be alone with children or are counted in staff-to-child ratios (He-C 4002.40), before they work with children and every 5 years. DHHS checks the NH sex offender and abuse/neglect registries, the sex offender registries of every state lived in during the past 5 years, and the National Sex Offender Registry, and must decide eligibility within 45 days; since 2025 a pending charge for a listed offense also disqualifies. RSA 170-E:29-a applies the same system to residential child care institutions and agencies.
- 3
Municipal Volunteer Background Check Authority
RSA 41:9-b
Lets a town require a background investigation and a State Police criminal history check (state only, or state and FBI with fingerprints) before a final offer for its own positions that work with or around children or elderly persons, enter homes, or handle money; candidates for volunteer positions in the municipality are included. The town may charge the candidate the actual cost.
- 4
County Volunteer Background Check Authority
RSA 28:10-c
Authorizes county commissioners to require background checks on candidates for volunteer county positions; the definition of 'candidate for employment' explicitly includes volunteers.
Which of your volunteers this reaches
Run your actual roster against this list. The roles below are where New Hampshire's requirements apply; everyone else is a risk decision rather than a legal one.
- Licensed child care volunteers who might be alone with children or are counted in staff-to-child ratios — before working with children and every 5 years (He-C 4002.40; RSA 170-E:7)
- Youth recreation camp staff, including volunteers, and youth skill camp volunteers who may be left alone with a child — including sports, arts and science camps of 8+ hours a year over 3 or more consecutive days (RSA 170-E:56, II; He-C 4003.17; He-C 4004.03(c))
- Volunteers with direct client contact at health facilities licensed under RSA 151, such as nursing homes, assisted living and home health (RSA 151:2-d, II)
- Volunteers in DHHS-licensed, certified or funded programs who may have contact with vulnerable adults — BEAS registry check before starting and every year (RSA 161-F:49, VII)
- Residential child care program volunteers 18 and older, and child-placing agency volunteers with regular contact with children (He-C 4001.31; He-C 6448.07; RSA 170-E:29-a)
- Public school volunteers in categories the school board designates by policy — fingerprint-based state and FBI check (RSA 189:13-a, VII)
- Foster and kinship care parents and every other adult in the home — fingerprint-based national check and central registry check (RSA 170-E:29, II-a)
- Optional, not required: volunteers for town or city positions, if the municipality requires it (RSA 41:9-b)
- Optional, not required: volunteers for county positions, if the county commissioners require it (RSA 28:10-c)
- Optional, not required: nonpublic school volunteers, if the school elects to check (RSA 189:13-a, I(b))
Which check, from which agency
New Hampshire does not use one check for everything. These are the distinct instruments in play — they search different databases and are not interchangeable.
- NH State Police public criminal history record check with the volunteer’s signed release — rule fee $25, or $10 for volunteers of nonprofits serving children, the elderly or the disabled (Saf-C 5703.06, 5703.07); confirm the current fee with the Criminal Records Unit
- FBI fingerprint-based national check — only through statutory programs (schools, towns and counties, DHHS child care and residential licensing); results go to the government agency, not the nonprofit
- DCYF central registry of founded child abuse and neglect reports — only for employers the statute lists (RSA 169-C:35, II); camps use the DCYF Form 2501 self-request
- BEAS state registry of founded adult abuse, neglect and exploitation — required for DHHS-licensed, certified or funded adult programs (RSA 161-F:49, VII)
- NH Sex Offender Registry and National Sex Offender Registry checks
- Criminal background check in every state the person has lived in (camps and youth skill camps; He-C 4003.17, He-C 4004.05) and sex offender registries of every state lived in during the past 5 years (child care; RSA 170-E:7, II(a))
Administered by: NH Department of Safety, Division of State Police, Criminal Records Unit (state records and FBI fingerprint checks); NH DHHS Child Care Licensing Unit (child care, residential child care, youth recreation camps and youth skill camp certifications); NH DHHS Health Facilities Administration (RSA 151 facilities); NH DHHS Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services (BEAS state registry); NH Department of Justice, Charitable Trusts Unit (charity registration)
Typical processing: DHHS must decide child care and residential child care eligibility within 45 days of receiving all required information (RSA 170-E:7, III; RSA 170-E:29-a, V); we found no published State Police turnaround standard, so confirm current processing times with the Criminal Records Unit
What organizations in New Hampshire get wrong
These are the specific, local mistakes — the exemption that gets misapplied, the second database nobody runs, the deadline that arrives before anyone has written a policy.
- 1
Keep a written list of every volunteer and what they do: New Hampshire’s volunteer immunity applies only if the organization has a record showing the person is its volunteer, and volunteer coaches and sports officials are covered only if they hold proper certification or validation of competence in their sport (RSA 508:17).
- 2
If you run a sports, arts or science camp or clinic of 8+ hours a year over 3 or more consecutive days, it may be a youth skill camp: check every volunteer who may be left alone with a child before that happens and again each calendar year, and file the DHHS certification with the $25 fee before campers arrive (RSA 170-E:56, II; He-C 4004).
- 3
In licensed child care, a volunteer who might be alone with children or counts in ratios must submit through the NHCIS portal before working; before DHHS’s first notice the volunteer may attend orientation or training only and may not interact with children; after a clean fingerprint result they may be present only if never alone and under direct supervision of an eligible staff member (DHHS has 45 days after receiving everything; He-C 4002.40(i)–(j); RSA 170-E:7, III).
- 4
Ask about criminal history only in the non-annulled form — Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime that has not been annulled by a court? — and ask directly about the convictions that bar work with minors under RSA 632-A:10 (RSA 651:5, X(f)).
- 5
School volunteers: ask the district which volunteer categories its board designates; designated volunteers submit the State Police release form and fingerprints to the school, which may charge the actual cost (RSA 189:13-a, II, IV, VII).
The order to do it in
- 1
Write the policy before you screen anyone
Decide which roles require a check, who reviews a result, and who makes the final call — in writing, before you have a result to review. Deciding under pressure with a parent on the phone is how organizations end up with a decision they cannot defend. Our free policy generator will draft one you can edit.
- 2
Sort your roster by unsupervised access, not by job title
The statutes above turn on contact and supervision, not on what a role is called. A "greeter" who walks children to the restroom has unsupervised access; a "coach" who is never alone with anyone may not.
- 3
Match each role to the right instrument
Where New Hampshire mandates a specific channel — fingerprint, a named registry, an agency portal — use that channel for that role. Use a broad multi-source check as the baseline for everyone else.
- 4
Collect consent correctly the first time
FCRA requires a standalone written disclosure and a separate written authorization. Bundling either into a volunteer application or a waiver is the single most common compliance defect, and it is the one plaintiffs' lawyers look for.
- 5
Run the check, then follow adverse action if anything surfaces
Pre-adverse notice with a copy of the report and a summary of rights, a reasonable window to dispute, then the final notice. Build the waiting period into your start dates rather than discovering it under pressure.
- 6
Set a re-screen interval and let it run
A clearance describes the day it was run. Most organizations use one to two years; some insurers require annual for roles with unsupervised access to children.
Questions New Hampshire organizations ask
Does New Hampshire require background checks for all volunteers?
New Hampshire has no law requiring every nonprofit to screen volunteers, but checks are mandatory in specific settings: licensed child care (volunteers who might be alone with children or count in staff-to-child ratios, every 5 years; He-C 4002.40), residential child care and child-placing agencies (RSA 170-E:29-a), youth recreation camps and youth skill camps, including sports camps (RSA 170-E:56, II; He-C 4003.17; He-C 4004), health facilities licensed under RSA 151 (volunteers with direct client contact; RSA 151:2-d, II), DHHS-licensed, certified or funded adult programs (BEAS registry; RSA 161-F:49, VII), and public-school volunteers the school board designates (RSA 189:13-a, VII). Towns and counties may require checks for their own volunteer positions (RSA 41:9-b; RSA 28:10-c). It is a felony for a person with certain sexual-assault, child-abuse-image or felony child-assault convictions to volunteer in roles serving mainly minors, supervising them or working one on one with them (RSA 632-A:10).
Which of my volunteers does New Hampshire law actually reach?
Based on the statutes cited on this page: Licensed child care volunteers who might be alone with children or are counted in staff-to-child ratios — before working with children and every 5 years (He-C 4002.40; RSA 170-E:7); Youth recreation camp staff, including volunteers, and youth skill camp volunteers who may be left alone with a child — including sports, arts and science camps of 8+ hours a year over 3 or more consecutive days (RSA 170-E:56, II; He-C 4003.17; He-C 4004.03(c)); Volunteers with direct client contact at health facilities licensed under RSA 151, such as nursing homes, assisted living and home health (RSA 151:2-d, II); Volunteers in DHHS-licensed, certified or funded programs who may have contact with vulnerable adults — BEAS registry check before starting and every year (RSA 161-F:49, VII); Residential child care program volunteers 18 and older, and child-placing agency volunteers with regular contact with children (He-C 4001.31; He-C 6448.07; RSA 170-E:29-a); Public school volunteers in categories the school board designates by policy — fingerprint-based state and FBI check (RSA 189:13-a, VII); Foster and kinship care parents and every other adult in the home — fingerprint-based national check and central registry check (RSA 170-E:29, II-a); Optional, not required: volunteers for town or city positions, if the municipality requires it (RSA 41:9-b); Optional, not required: volunteers for county positions, if the county commissioners require it (RSA 28:10-c); Optional, not required: nonpublic school volunteers, if the school elects to check (RSA 189:13-a, I(b)). Those categories are where New Hampshire's requirements bite. Volunteers outside them are a policy decision for your organization rather than a statutory one — which does not mean the answer is "skip it", only that the reason to screen is risk management rather than a citation.
Who administers the check in New Hampshire?
NH Department of Safety, Division of State Police, Criminal Records Unit (state records and FBI fingerprint checks); NH DHHS Child Care Licensing Unit (child care, residential child care, youth recreation camps and youth skill camp certifications); NH DHHS Health Facilities Administration (RSA 151 facilities); NH DHHS Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services (BEAS state registry); NH Department of Justice, Charitable Trusts Unit (charity registration). Typical processing is DHHS must decide child care and residential child care eligibility within 45 days of receiving all required information (RSA 170-E:7, III; RSA 170-E:29-a, V); we found no published State Police turnaround standard, so confirm current processing times with the Criminal Records Unit.
Does a VolunteerBadge check satisfy New Hampshire's requirement?
It depends on what your state or licensor mandates, and we would rather be straight with you about it than sell past the question. Our $5 check is a broad multi-source criminal and sex-offender search from an FCRA-regulated consumer reporting agency — an excellent primary screen and, for many volunteer roles, the whole answer. It is not a fingerprint or live-scan check. Where New Hampshire specifically mandates a fingerprint-based state or FBI channel for a role, that requirement stands on its own and our check supplements rather than replaces it.
We operate in more than one state. Whose rules apply?
Generally the rules of the state where the volunteer serves, not where your organization is incorporated. Organizations near a border routinely have volunteers under two different regimes at the same event. For New Hampshire that most often means Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont. The practical approach is to screen to the strictest standard among the states you operate in, so one process covers all of them.
What happens if we run a check and find something?
That is where federal law takes over from state law. Running background checks makes you a user of consumer reports under the FCRA, so before you decline anyone based on the report you must send a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and a summary of rights, allow a reasonable window to dispute, and only then send the final notice. It is not optional, and it is the step organizations most often miss.
Operating across a New Hampshire border?
Volunteers are generally governed by the state where they serve. If your programs cross a line, these are the neighbors you are most likely to need.
General information, not legal advice. We are a consumer reporting agency, not a law firm. The statutes cited above are real and current as of August 21, 2026, but they are amended — and a citation is not a substitute for reading how it applies to your specific program. Confirm with NH Department of Safety, Division of State Police, Criminal Records Unit (state records and FBI fingerprint checks); NH DHHS Child Care Licensing Unit (child care, residential child care, youth recreation camps and youth skill camp certifications); NH DHHS Health Facilities Administration (RSA 151 facilities); NH DHHS Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services (BEAS state registry); NH Department of Justice, Charitable Trusts Unit (charity registration), your licensor, your insurer, or your own counsel before relying on any of it. Spot an error? Tell us — we would rather fix it.
Screen your New Hampshire volunteers for $5
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