“He’s my best worker,” Nelsen said. “Out of all my technicians, he’s the one I wouldn’t want to lose.”

– Ron Nelson, owner of Pioneer Overhead Door

 

In a recent article from the Washington Post, Ron Nelson, the owner of a Las Vegas garage door company discusses his most valued employee. That employee, Ian Black, isn’t your typical 9 to 5 worker. Rather than going to back to a home after he finishes his shift, Ian returns to his cell at Casa Grande work-release facility where he is serving time for non-violent felony convictions.

At first, Nelson said he was skeptical of hiring a worker from Casa Grande, especially since he and other local business owners had opposed the building of the facility in 2005. But with the record low un-employment rate, Nelson was struggling to find qualified, hard working employees. That’s when he stumbled upon Ian’s resume and after some encouragement from the community and an outstanding interview with Ian, Nelson decided to take a chance on Ian. As it turns out, that decision was great for both Nelson’s company and for Ian. Nelson now claims that Ian is his best employee and Ian is grateful for the opportunity to earn income that will help him get back on his feet once he is released.

Nelson and Ian’s story might not have been possible even a year ago. In the past, people with criminal records were often overlooked when it came to hiring, regardless of their qualifications for the job. But now, thanks to a national effort from both conservative groups, like Koch Industries, and progressive groups, like the ACLU, employers are now seeing the benefits of hiring individuals with criminal records. Hiring individuals with criminal records is also good for the community-at-large because it reduced recidivism, lowers unemployment, and reduces prison and welfare costs. Hopefully, with the continued low unemployment rates, more employers will look beyond a person’s criminal past and see their potential to be a hardworking and productive member of their company, just like Ian.

For those with security clearance, or those trying to get security clearance, having a DUI on your record can cause problems. How many problems and how big those problems become depends on several factors including the circumstances surrounding your DUI, whether you’ve had previous DUIs, and how long it’s been since you were convicted of a DUI. In most instances, a first offense DUI won’t put your security clearance or your chances of getting security clearance in jeopardy – but this isn’t always the case.

The National Security Adjudicative Guidelines set out the criteria for determining whether someone can gain security clearance and if already granted security clearance, whether that clearance should be renewed. The guidelines are used by all executive branch agencies including the military, the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Transportation. The guidelines are primarily concerned with whether a criminal record, including a DUI, could impact your ability to maintain the nation’s secrets and whether a criminal record would expose you to blackmail or coercion from another nation or hostile group.

So, how exactly could a DUI impact your security clearance according to the guidelines? If you have a DUI on your record, the government could look to four specific guidelines to determine whether or not that DUI will have an impact on your ability to keep secrets and follow the law. Those specific guidelines are Guideline E: Personal Conduct, Guideline G: Alcohol Consumption, Guideline H: Drug Involvement and Substance Misuse, and Guideline J: Criminal Conduct.

Guideline E: Personal conduct is primarily concerned with your trustworthiness, your truthfulness and candor, and your reliability. Under this guideline a DUI could be an issue if you attempt to conceal your DUI or are evasive when answering questions about your DUI. It is far more likely that the government will be less concerned about your DUI if you are forthcoming about the events surrounding your DUI and the steps you have taken to correct your actions.

Guideline G: Alcohol Consumption specifically mentions driving under the influence as a factor for not granting a security clearance. The guideline asserts that excessive alcohol consumption can lead to poor judgement and impulse control and could show a lack of reliability. However, the guideline also states that the passage of time since the DUI, the circumstances surrounding the DUI, whether or not alcohol treatment was completed, and the lack of repeat offense are all mitigating factors.

Guideline H: Drug Involvement and Substance Misuse is concerned with whether illegal drug use or abuse of prescription medicine would impair their trustworthiness and show a unwillingness to follow the law. As with Guideline G, mitigating factors include the completion of a drug treatment program, the length of time since the incident, and the applicant’s candor about the circumstances surrounding the drug use.

Guideline J: Criminal Conduct is, as the name suggests, concerned with whether an applicant can follow the law. Some of the specific concerns under this guideline are whether criminal acts are or were repeated on a regular basis and whether a person is on probation for the offense. This guideline could be particularly concerning for someone with multiple DUIs on their record. Unfortunately, Kentucky now allows most misdemeanor offense, including DUIs to be expunged from a criminal record.

Whether or not your DUI could impact your security clearance depends a lot on the circumstances surrounding the DUI and your record. If you’ve been charged with a DUI and are concerned about your security clearance, give us a call or text us at 859-474-0001. If you have a DUI on your background that you’d like to expunge, click here to use our free expungement evaluation app or give us a call at 888-400-5730 to see if you’re eligible to clear your record.

July 15th, 2016 was a life altering day for many in our state. On that day, House Bill 40 went into effect and for the first time in Kentucky’s history, certain Class D felonies were eligible for expungement. In the past year, over 1000 Kentuckians have cleared the mistakes of their past and gotten a fresh start in life. By getting their felonies expunged, they’ve gained back rights they lost like the right to vote, serve on a jury, and own a gun. They’ve also gained back the ability to apply for better paying jobs and school and credit loans. Parents with expunged felonies are now able to chaperone their children’s school trips. Lifelong apartment renters are now buying their own homes. And grandfathers and dads are passing on hunting traditions to the next generation. Kentuckians who have taken advantage of this law are making the dreams they thought were lost forever into their new reality because they know their past can’t haunt them anymore.

A year later, it is estimated there are over 90,000 Kentuckians currently eligible to clear their felony records, but haven’t yet seize this opportunity to change their life. Each day more and more people will qualify under the law to expunge their felonies. If you were convicted of an eligible felony, take advantage of this chance to take back control of your life. Don’t let mistakes that were made 10, 15, or 20 years ago define you any longer.

If you’d like to learn more about the expungement process or want to find out if you qualify to expunge your record, contact us at Unconvicted.com. We want all Kentuckians to take advantage of this opportunity, which is why we offer free case evaluations. Give us a call today at 888-400-5730 or click here to use our free app.