Discrimination based on arrest or conviction record under the fair employment law. (FE)

This bill makes a number of modifications to the fair employment law as it relates to discrimination based on arrest or conviction record in licensing, including all of the following:

1. The bill narrows the exception above that allows for denial of a license due to arrest record so that a licensing agency may only deny a license if the pending charge is for a crime against life and bodily security or one of certain crimes against children. The circumstances of the charge would also have to substantially relate to the circumstances of the particular licensed activity, as under current law.

2. The bill qualifies the exception above that allows for denial of a license due to conviction record in the following ways:

a. The bill prohibits a licensing agency from denying a license under the exception because the individual was adjudicated delinquent for an offense under the Juvenile Justice Code, unless the offense for which the individual was adjudicated delinquent was one of certain crimes against life or bodily security or one of certain crimes against children.

b. If a licensing agency denies a license under the exception, the licensing agency must state its reasons for the denial in writing, and must allow the individual to show evidence of rehabilitation and fitness to engage in the licensed activity as provided in the bill. These requirements, however, do not apply if the conviction was for one of certain crimes against life or bodily security or one of certain crimes against children.

3. The bill requires state agencies that may deny licenses due to an individual's conviction record under the exception to promulgate rules to allow an individual, without having to submit a full application for a license, to apply to the agency for a binding determination of whether he or she would be disqualified from obtaining the license based on his or her conviction record. The bill repeals a similar procedure outlined under current law that applies only to the Real Estate Examining Board.

The changes in the bill to the fair employment law apply only to licensing by licensing agencies, and do not otherwise affect the fair employment law as it applies to decisions about whether to employ an individual based on his or her arrest or conviction record.