Public employers may disqualify an applicant because of a conviction only if “the offense has a reasonable relationship to the functions” of the desired employment. The law does not explain this standard or provide for its enforcement. An executive order prohibits most public employers from asking individuals about their criminal history on an initial job application.
In a series of laws enacted almost every year since 2017, the standards and procedures applicable to consideration of criminal records in occupational and professional licensure have been narrowed. As of 2024, licensing agencies may not consider non-conviction records, non-violent misdemeanor convictions, less serious felonies, convictions that have been set-aside or pardoned, and felonies and violent misdemeanors more than three years in the past (except for serious and violent crimes). To disqualify an applicant with other convictions, a licensing agency must determine that there is a state interest in protecting public safety that is superior to the applicant’s right to a license. The agency must also determine that the conviction “specifically and directly relates to the duties and responsibilities of the occupation” (except for serious and violent offenses) and that the person “is more likely to reoffend by virtue of having” the license than not. Applicants may petition a licensing agency for a preliminary determination about whether a prior conviction will be disqualifying, and licensing agencies may also issue “provisional licenses” to otherwise qualified applicants. Licensing agencies must report to the legislature on the number of applications received from and granted to persons with a criminal record. In 2022 the legislature also removed “good moral character” language from a variety of business and professional licensing statutes, and in 2024 it reduced the lookback provisions from seven years to three.
