Chattanooga City Council eases restrictions toward hiring former convicts

Chattanooga City Councilman Yusuf Hakeem has pushed for removing requirement that all city employees must be registered voters or eligible to vote in Tennessee.
Chattanooga City Councilman Yusuf Hakeem has pushed for removing requirement that all city employees must be registered voters or eligible to vote in Tennessee.

The Chattanooga City Council moved one step closer this week to removing one of the barriers prohibiting people with criminal records from being hired as city employees.

The council voted 7-0 on first reading to change the City Charter to remove the requirement that all city employees must be registered voters or eligible to vote in Tennessee.

People convicted of felonies lose their right to vote, and thus would be ineligible to work for the city. Though felons may have their voting rights restored by a judge in some circumstances, most don't go that route.

Any change to the City Charter must be approved by voters in a general election. Assuming the council again approves the measure on second reading next week, City Attorney Wade Hinton said the city will ask the Hamilton County Election Commission to put the measure on the ballot for Aug. 4, 2016.

Councilman Yusuf Hakeem, who has championed the proposal, said people who made mistakes in their past can have a second chance.

"Those people coming out of [prison], they need hope," he said ahead of Tuesday's meeting.

photo Chattanooga City Councilman Yusuf Hakeem has pushed for removing requirement that all city employees must be registered voters or eligible to vote in Tennessee.

But city Human Resources Director Todd Dockery said Wednesday the change does not mean those with criminal records can be hired for all city jobs.

Positions as police officers, firefighters or in the Head Start program all bar convicted felons, he said. And the type of conviction might determine whether someone would be considered.

"If we are hiring an accountant for the finance department and they had a DUI felony conviction 15 years ago, that's not going to affect the hiring decision," he said. "But if we find that an applicant for a finance position had a felony conviction for check fraud a year and a half ago, that is going to affect the hiring decision."

City agencies will be allowed to waive the residency requirement for employees in critical areas where the city does not have enough applicants who live in Tennessee. There is also an exception for current employees who live outside the city limits since before the voting requirement was adopted in 1990.

This is the second part of a two-step push to change the city's hiring rules to allow someone with a criminal conviction to be hired.

The council voted last week to ask the human resources department to remove a question about an applicant's criminal record from the city's job application form.

Councilman Chris Anderson, who co-sponsored the measure, emphasized the change does not prevent interviewers from asking about an applicant's criminal record later in the hiring process or during a background investigation.

Dockery said the new job application form will be in effect as of Jan. 1, 2016.

Contact reporter Steve Johnson at sjohnson@timesfreepress.com, 423-757-6673

Upcoming Events