In a brief meeting Monday night, the Pine Bluff City Council heard the first reading of a proposed ordinance to change the application process for prospective employees.
The proposed ordinance will eliminate a box on the current application form which deals with a felony conviction. According to the proposed ordinance, “the City views this box as an obstacle to people who are attempting to re-enter the work force, in that, it arbitrarily excludes convicted felons, without considering other factors that may offset his/her previous offenses.”
The proposal goes on to say that once it is determined that an applicant is qualified for a position, the type of position will determine if a criminal background check is necessary. If that is deemed necessary, the city will consider not only the position sought by the applicant but the type of offense committed, the number of convictions and the number of years since the last conviction.
The proposed ordinance says that criminal background checks will be conducted on all applicants for the Police Department, Fire and Emergency Services Department, Animal Control, applicants in any department that provides services or direct care to minors or vulnerable adults, and applicants within departments having access to city funds.
There was no discussion of the proposed ordinance either in the council meeting itself or in the council’s pre-meeting.
The only other item on the agenda Monday was a resolution to place liens on the tax books as delinquent taxes for property owners who failed to correct nuisances on their property and which the city was forced to clean up.