Sanctions limit opportunities for Ohioans with criminal convictions

Survey shows biggest impact on employment, driver’s license suspensions

A new brief, “Fired, Denied, Rescinded,” shows some of the harm done to Ohioans by collateral sanctions: legal restrictions tied to criminal convictions even after a person has completed their sentence. Based on a survey conducted by Policy Matters and Building Freedom Ohio, the brief suggests that these restrictions can make it harder for Ohioans to find work and otherwise reacclimate to life after incarceration. Among the survey’s key findings:

• Forty-seven percent of respondents said they had a regular job with an employer who gives them a W-2, compared to 71% of all Ohio resident tax filers who had W-2 employment.
• Seventy percent reported experiencing at least one conviction-related denial of employment or getting fired from a job after a background check.
• Seventy-one percent reported having had their driver’s license suspended, compared to 22% of all licensed drivers in Ohio in 2022, according to the most recent data available.
• Fifty-four percent identified jobs and employment as the most important issue, with housing selected by 19% and healthcare by 10%.

The brief recommends passing the Get Rehabilitated Ohioans Working (GROW) Act, which stalled in the Ohio House during the last General Assembly. That bill would have revised state law to allow for the automatic sealing of some criminal records, rather than requiring that people apply and pay to have their records sealed.

Other recommendations include passing House Bill 296, which would establish a 180-day grace period for court-ordered fines and fees for people returning to their communities after serving their sentences; and re-establishing the Civil Impacts of Criminal Convictions (CIVICC) database, allowing job applicants and employers alike to know which restrictions apply to which convictions.

“Employers, landlords, and others reject candidates with criminal records even when specific restrictions don’t apply,” said Piet van Lier, author of the report. “While advocacy and legislation have since removed some barriers, many unnecessary restrictions remain.”