BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Brown County is no longer asking county job applicants whether they are a convicted criminal, but that move is not yet permanent.
The move is part of an international effort to “Ban the Box”, which seeks to remove the question from applications for employment.
Last night, the county board decided to have a committee discuss whether to shore up the new policy with a permanent ordinance.
The county removed the box that asks an applicant whether he or she is a convicted criminal from its applications last week after Supervisor Mark Becker introduced a resolution to do so.
Becker tells WLUK…..
“1 in 4 in Brown County have to check that box. You get into a bar fight ten years ago, well you’d have to check that box because you’ve been convicted of disorderly conduct or whatever. There is a lot of people that fall under that category.”
Becker believes ‘banning the box’ is a move that will possibly prevent convicted criminals from reoffending.
Justice Organization JOSHUA volunteer Jessica Cain supports the move as well, pointing to other communities who’ve already removed the criminal record box.
“Our neighboring communities such as Racine, Appleton, Madison, and Milwaukee County have banned the box and they’ve noticed that they’ve been hiring people based on their skills instead of their record.”
Banning the box would not eliminate background checks, meaning the county would likely look into applicants’ criminal records later on in the hiring process.
Brown County Supervisor Pat Evans has some concerns.
“I don’t like putting people through an entire process and then coming back and saying, ok, you’re not qualified because of your conviction.”
Evans believes the county is moving too fast and the county board should have had a say before the box was removed from applications.
“I’m not a fan of giving somebody who has had felony theft to work in an area, for example even the highway department where there is tons of tools and machinery.”
Under the proposed ordinance, law enforcement and direct care job applicants would still be asked about having a criminal record.
