Allegheny County Bans Criminal Background Box

Starting on Jan. 1, applicants for county jobs in Allegheny County will no longer have to check off a box stating whether or not they have been convicted of a crime.

More than 80 governments across the country, including Pittsburgh, have removed the box asking applicants to indicate whether they have been convicted of a crime. Starting Jan. 1, the county will indicate whether a job requires a criminal background check in job advertisements, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. If an applicant accepts a job requiring a background check, the check will be performed.

In a news release on Monday, Director of the Allegheny County Department of Human Resources Laura Zaspel said removing the check box increases the number of candidates for a job and gives the county the opportunity to increase the diversity of its workforce, according to the Post-Gazette.

Not all county jobs are exempt, however. Jobs in the Allegheny County Jail, Allegheny County Police, Department of Human Services, Kane Regional Centers, Shuman Detention Center and Allegheny County Emergency Services will still require applicants to indicate if they have been convicted of a crime because of legal requirements in those jobs, the Post-Gazette reports.