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Conviction Verification/Emp. Application

RobertLRobertL 2 Posts
in HR & Employment Law Vote Up0Vote Down
Hello all...

Recently the company I work for changed the statement in the Conviction Verification section of the employment application. In addition to listing convictions, it also wants you to list all deferred adjudications. This seems odd to me and I wanted to get your opinions. The section includes:

"...all job applicants must provide and certify their complete adult criminal conviction record. This includes any conviction and/or deferred adjudication from the age of 17 until now."

And the application states: "List ALL convictions and/or deferred adjudications, from the oldest to the most recent."

Given what I thought I knew about what deferred adjudication, this struck me as an unusual request.

I am in Texas, not sure if that makes a difference for the deferred adjudication.

Looking forward to hearing your opinions...
Robert.
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Comments

  • 6 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • CatherineCatherine 26 Posts
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    I am also in Texas. Deferred adjudication here is not what it used to be, and I suspect that's the reason for the change in your employer's application. It used to be that deferreds didn't show up on criminal histories because they aren't technically convictions, but now they do. When I worked in criminal defense, I didn't like them because people can end up going to jail for much longer on a revocation of deferred than on a revocation of straight probation. On the employment side, I don't like them because dealing with them tends to be a little ambiguous. We are considering changing our policies to treat deferred adjudication the same way we treat a conviction.

    Protection of juvenile records has changed, too, and we may see further changes, such that people will have to include on their application something they did when they were twelve. I tend to think all of this makes it a little hard on applicants; I think we have people who really don't know what they're supposed to write down because they don't understand what's happened to them in the legal process.

    Does that help any?
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  • Don DDon D 9,834 Posts
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    I like your response Catherine. I understand it better now. I thought deferred meant either probation or expungement. I have had applicants tell me that they didn't list something that was later expunged and even have been told they were so advised by the attorney who got the record expunged. So, what do you tell a college kid whose school finally beats Auburn and he and his buddies are imbibing too much outside the apartment later and the local constabulary provides them with a place to spend the night? No DUI involved, the terminology being public drunk (egad!). Prior to graduation, dad pays an attorney to get that two year old incident expunged and the lawyer advises not to show it on an application. What's your advice or thought on that?
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  • CatherineCatherine 26 Posts
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    Did he ever plead to the offense? Some of this depends, too, on when the arrest occurred. But to answer your question, if you trust the attorney, and have seen the order of expunction then, no, he shouldn't show it on applications. If it's truly been expunged, 55.03 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure provides that the person arrested may deny the occurrence of the arrest and the existence of the expunction order (except under oath in a criminal proceeding).
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  • Don DDon D 9,834 Posts
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    My understanding is that he was 20 at the time, had to spend the night and pay a fine and had to appear and he did that and responded to the judge (along with a bunch of other kids) that he had done it and the judge said the fine was all the penalty that would be imposed. Don't know about whether he saw a record verifying it was expunged. The only difference in him and me (and a few others reading this) is that he was caught.
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  • WOCO FrankWOCO Frank 496 Posts
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    We also ask for deferred adjudications. In Missouri, you have two types - suspended imposition of sentence, and suspended execution of sentence. Under SIS, the offense is expunged upon completion of probation, and no conviction is ever recorded. Under SES, a conviction is recorded but can be expunged after completion of probation.

    We are not allowed to make a hiring decision based on SIS. However, we are permitted to ask, because state law prohibits us from having convicted felons employed in the majority of our positions, and we've successfully argued that knowledge of an existing SIS and the ability to conduct periodic follow-up checks is a business necessity. Basically, our position is that special consideration under one law is critical if we're to avoid violating the other law.

    Unfortunately, too many defense attorneys advise their clients to NOT reveal an existing SIS. We treat it as a falsification of application if they do not.
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  • RobertLRobertL 2 Posts
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    Hello all...

    You have confirmed that this is a very gray area, but your thoughts and examples have helped me get some perspective on it.

    Thanks...
    Robert
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