IndianaNews

Criminal history question removed from Indiana state office applications

(Flazingo.com/Creative Commons)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has issued an executive order removing questions about criminal history from initial employment applications to the state’s executive branch.

Starting July 1, people applying to positions within state government initially won’t be asked if they’ve been arrested or convicted of a crime. The exception would be if conviction of a particular crime would keep the applicant from performing the specific job.

A statement from the governor’s office says the state will continue to run background checks on applicants before hiring them.

Holcomb says it gives those with a criminal record a second chance to overcome past stigma.

Data from the U.S. Justice Department says more than 1.2 million Indiana residents have some form of a criminal record.

Indiana is the 27th state to enact such a policy.

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3 comments

Whaaaaat? June 30, 2017 at 2:27 pm

Must be getting real hard to find anyone that doesn’t already have a criminal background to take these jobs to become a person with a criminal background!

Reply
anonymous July 2, 2017 at 8:37 am

A lot of us have made stupid mistakes when we were younger or did things we regret in a dark time in our lives but to be persecuted for the rest of our lives is not fair. we have paid the price and learned and moved on and made a better life and became a good citizen with no other problem in over 50 years

Reply
Thor July 5, 2017 at 2:02 pm

I would agree to this if when someone is released into society they were capable of being given all their constitutional rights…including the right to bear arms. The issue is that we release criminals with graduated access to their rights. They should either be accepted as citizens or not, not provisional citizens that can only be discovered with a criminal history search.

If you can’t be accepted in civil society with all the constitutional rights provided you should not be released…period. Today we are releasing threats to civil society with provisions, those are ours to discover. Obviously, the laws keep these people from breaking further laws or acquiring weapons to use on other citizens. Obviously. Makes (NO) sense to me.

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