Hats off to Orange County, Florida, for becoming the newest county to enact “Ban the Box” policies for government positions. The new law deems that those looking for jobs with the county “will no longer have to disclose prior criminal convictions at the beginning of the application process.”

Though the box will not be eliminated for certain positions (safety positions like corrections officers and firefighters), the step will advance opportunities for otherwise qualified individuals who also happen to have a criminal record. Those who are viable candidates shouldn’t be discouraged from applying for positions because they’ll have to answer questions about their criminal history.

The question won’t be eliminated entirely—it’ll simply come up later in the hiring process. Though it eventually comes to light, the main reason cities and counties are banning the box is so that employers don’t automatically eliminate a candidate at the beginning of the process. It reinforces the idea that employees should be chosen by their qualifications and compatibility and not judged solely by past run-ins with the law.

If you have a criminal record, you may be sick of checking that box on job applications that inquires about your history. With an expunction, you can legally say that you have no criminal record. We make it easy to determine your eligibility and see if an expunction could work for you—go to www.EasyExpunctions.com to sign up for a free background report so that we can see what’s on your record and what we can get rid of with our affordable record-clearing software.

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