When Gretchen Jacobs’ autistic and non-verbal daughter was sexually abused at Chaparral High School in 2021, the veteran lobbyist was determined to work with state lawmakers to make sure school districts would be held accountable for not conducting thorough background checks.

Jacobs’ crusade hit an obstacle last year after Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill that would’ve  removed immunity for schools and other public entities that didn’t rigorously check into the history of an employee and it led to a student getting sexually abused.

However, Jacobs knew she was going to keep returning to the Legislature until a bill was passed. This year, she collaborated with lawmakers to introduce a new version of the bill, SB1106, known as “Ava’s Law.”

“Ava’s Law” – named after Jacobs’ daughter – would hold a school district liable if a student is sexually abused and the district didn’t conduct an appropriate background check on an employee.

Sen. Catherine Miranda, D-Laveen, sponsored the bill, which has a long list of bipartisan cosponsors.

Jacobs said she began pursuing legislation after she learned that the Scottsdale Unified School District completed a criminal background check on the employee who was accused of molesting her daughter but didn’t delve deep enough into his work history.

“They didn’t contact the prior employers and ask the questions that are required by law that their board had adopted,” Jacobs said. “The information they requested was so nominal that it didn’t provide really any information about discipline history or problems.”

The employee, Nicholas Alan Claus, was arrested at the time on suspicion of sexual abuse, child abuse, and public sexual indecency, according to media reports. He pled guilty to two counts of attempted sexual abuse in October 2022 and placed on probation, according to the Maricopa County Superior Court docket. 

Jacobs then learned that she couldn’t hold the district accountable directly because of current laws.

She set out last year to change the law with a bill sponsored by Sen. Shawnna Bolick, R-Phoenix. But she was unable to hold stakeholder meetings with legislators and other education groups because she was involved in a lawsuit against the school district. She eventually reached a settlement with the school district, she said.

In Hobbs’ veto letter, the governor said the bill was not “carefully tailored and thoughtfully executed” enough to expand the liability of public entities.

“They thought it was not narrowly tailored enough,” Jacobs said. 

Jacobs regrouped this year with three weeks of stakeholder meetings with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, and education groups. The stakeholders recommended changing a section of the bill to where a district could face liability for a violation of the law instead of its own policies.

“The feedback was really helpful to me, understanding their concerns and being able to address them with Senator Miranda,” Jacobs said.

Miranda, who voted for the bill last year, feels her fellow legislators and other stakeholders took all the necessary steps to make it a stronger bill.

“It’s a bill to protect children against sexual offenses, and that should get everybody’s attention,” Miranda said. “They should all be aware that it’s a better bill that everybody agrees on or is neutral in so there’s absolutely no reason for it to be vetoed.”

Sen. Janae Shamp, R-Surprise, viewed the law as a bipartisan measure that aims to protect children who are in the care of schools and other entities, she said.

“It’s a position of trust, and I think that everyone needs to have background checks. When parents send their children to school, they’re trusting their children are going to be safe,” Shamp said.

If the bill becomes law, Jacobs hopes it will incentivize districts to dig deeper into the employment histories of those who are hired.

“Now, there’s an incentive to know less, because the less you know, the less you’re liable for,” she said. “This would get rid of … a perverse incentive to not comply with the law and obtain information about the people who are going to be with children, especially children who are unable to communicate.”