A conviction or an arrest for even a minor crime can haunt a person long after the case has been settled, thanks in part to how easily such information spreads online.
A person may struggle to find a job, obtain a loan or find a place to live because of one brush with the law that's years in the past, said Shea Crosby, a lawyer who is working with Legal Aid of Arkansas as an Equal Justice Works Americorps legal fellow.
Background checks
According to a 2012 survey of U.S. organizations about their use of criminal background checks in hiring decisions:
• Sixty-nine percent do checks of all job candidates. Another 18 percent do checks on select candidates. Fourteen percent do no criminal background checks at all. (Total respondents: 406)
• The top two criminal activities that are very influential in a decision not to hire a job candidate are a convicted violent felony (96 percent) and a convicted nonviolent felony (74 percent).
• Fifty-eight percent of organizations allow job candidates, in certain circumstances, the chance to explain the results of their criminal background check before the hiring decision is made. Another 27 percent allow applicants that opportunity after the hiring decision has been made. Fifteen percent don’t allow candidates to explain their background check at any time. (Total respondents: 340)
Source: Society for Human Resource Management
"A lot of these records are so old, and yet you have landlords and employers making decisions based on those records," Crosby said.
People who were arrested but never convicted of a crime can face just as many challenges as guilty people. Even after a person's record has been expunged by a court -- meaning it doesn't officially exist -- details of a person's criminal past may resurface with a simple search of the Internet, Crosby said.
One in every 31 U.S. adults is in prison or jail or on probation or parole, according to a 2009 report by The Pew Center on the States. That's about 7 million people.
Local prosecutors say it's not their role to decide whether laws should be changed to help people overcome mistakes they've made.
"There are numerous avenues open to first-time offenders to keep felonies off their record," said Nathan Smith, Benton County prosecutor. "The options are out there for people who work for it."
Victim pays price
Sivert Rafter's trouble with the law came as a result of his identity being stolen.
Rafter, 53, of Bella Vista was arrested during a routine traffic stop in September 2011 when police discovered an outstanding warrant for him out of Washington County. The charge was writing a bad check.
That came as a surprise to Rafter, who later learned a man he'd allowed to stay at his home had stolen his checkbook, he said. That man has written three checks in Rafter's name that Rafter is aware of, he said.
Washington County eventually dropped the charge against him. Other checks were written in San Antonio, where Rafter also was arrested twice before proving his innocence in those cases. He's spent at least $10,000 so far in an effort to clear his name.
Still, a website called Arrests.org lists a record of Rafter's Washington County arrest, including his age, height and weight, along with his mugshot. There is no mention of the outcome of Rafter's case, other than Rafter's own comment on the page explaining what happened.
A disclaimer posted on Arrests.org states "no claims to the accuracy of this information are made" and "the people featured on this site may not of been convicted of the charges or crimes listed and are presumed innocent until proven guilty."
A message to Arrests.org requesting comment wasn't returned last week.
"It's still on the Internet. It's still a black cloud over my head," Rafter said. "Once it's on your record, you're screwed for life. The system isn't built to get you out of trouble. It's built to get you in."
Rafter served in the U.S. Army from 1981 to 1997, including a stint in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. His last job was as crew chief for an airline based in Alaska from 2009 to 2011. He's had no other trouble with the law, he said.
He's applied for several jobs since his first arrest, but said employers kept giving him the same response: They couldn't take a chance on someone they couldn't trust, regardless of the facts of his case.
Job, housing woes
Connie Willis also knows what it's like to deal with questions about her record.
Willis, 57, worked for Superior Industries in Fayetteville for about a decade. She then moved to Georgia, where she lived and worked for about 15 years. She moved back to Fayetteville in 2011 to care for her mother.
She hasn't been able to find a full-time job. That might have something to do with her past. Her record includes a conviction of assault on a police officer in 1996, stemming from an incident during which her son and nephew got into trouble with some white supremacists, she said. In a much earlier incident -- about 35 years ago -- Willis was put on probation for stabbing a man with whom she was living.
She had a lengthy interview for a job as a jailer last summer. She felt confident after the interview she would be offered the job. She called the employer the next day about sending them her transcript, but was told then it wouldn't be necessary. The person she talked to told her they couldn't hire Willis because of her criminal record, she said.
"I'm frustrated. I really have changed since my younger days," she said.
Laura Carr, 64, lost her Fayetteville home to foreclosure last summer. A disability forced her to retire about five years ago. Carr's criminal record consists of a hot check. It stemmed from an apartment rental payment that was just a few cents more than what she had in the bank, she said. That was in 1998.
"I got it paid off and all that," Carr said. "They didn't even charge me the court costs. I thought it was over."
That charge complicated her search for an apartment. At least 20 apartment complexes in Washington County rejected her because of that record, she said. After a three-month search, she found a place at Brookhaven apartment complex in Springdale. She likes her new two-bedroom apartment, but is still miffed.
"All we're asking for is a chance," Carr said.
Rafter, Willis and Carr are among dozens of Northwest Arkansas residents who have sought Legal Aid of Arkansas' help within the last few months getting their criminal records sealed. They are in the early stages of that process.
Employer views
An employer may not dismiss a person's job application based solely on arrests without a conviction. For applicants with convictions, an employer is obligated to consider other evidence the applicant may have, such as the facts surrounding the incident, referral letters or length of time since the conviction, Crosby said. That's according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces federal law regarding discrimination in the workplace.
Exclusion of individuals because of criminal records has become an enforcement priority for the commission, Crosby said.
Wendi Cadle has been director of human resources at Northwest Arkansas Community College for almost four years. The college doesn't get many applicants who have been convicted of anything, but the college always gives those candidates a chance to explain how and why they ran into trouble.
"First and foremost, and it's not overly common, but you could end up getting a criminal record, and it could be wrong," Cadle said. "Once we've determined it's correct, we want to know if they can explain it to us."
There are certain scenarios in which an applicant's criminal history plays a more prominent part than in others. If an applicant has been convicted of fraud, for example, then the college almost certainly isn't going to hire that person for its finance department, she said.
"It's the nature of the job and nature of the conviction, tempered with, how does this person explain" the conviction, Cadle said. "People have stories. Their lives are stories. I've always approached this as, let's listen to the story. Let's figure it out."
The amount of time since a person's conviction is an important factor because people tend to make more mistakes when they're young, she said.
"Often they'll say, 'I was stupid,'" Cadle said.
Mike Rush of Rush Running Co. employs 26 people in his three shops in Bentonville, Rogers and Fayetteville.
There are certain offenses, such as sexual assaults, that would almost certainly cause him to reject a person's application.
"I don't think the degree of time passed for that offense would change my mind," Rush said.
Theft is another crime he would have trouble with on an applicant's record, he said.
He's more willing to overlook less serious offenses, however. In fact, he's hired at least one person with a conviction, though he wouldn't disclose what it was for.
"This employee was forthcoming with the information," Rush said. "We did have a discussion about it and the future and how this person was planning on not erring again. I did hire this person, who is now one of my strongest employees. So I think it really depends on the conviction."
Bill Burckart, a Bentonville alderman with 27 years of experience managing a construction company, said everybody makes mistakes. His main concern when making a hiring decision is who the person is at present and whether that person is trying to improve. He will do what he can to help someone who is trying hard to get back on his feet.
"I've done it in the past. I'm currently doing it with a couple of individuals," Burckart said. "A piece of paper doesn't tell me who a person is. It's more the word of the individual."
Prosecutors' perspectives
Smith, Benton County's prosecutor, said he sympathizes with people who struggle to find work.
"It is difficult, but not impossible," Smith said. "Felons do it all the time. Many find ways to make it and even do well."
Besides, people have many chances to keep felonies off their records, he said.
"We can give people an opportunity, but often they fail to hold up their end of the bargain. This results in a permanent criminal record in many cases. Choices have consequences. I think we give people a chance and it is up to them whether they take it."
Jim Clark, who served as Benton County's interim prosecutor from April through December, said first offenders are routinely given chances to expunge their records after completing their sentences.
"We also operate a drug court program, which I enthusiastically support, for persons who are convicted of possession, and are not drug dealers," Clark said. "This program gives these persons a chance to avoid a conviction completely, if they can successfully complete the rigorous program."
John Threet, Washington County's prosecutor for eight years before becoming a circuit judge this month, said he was always glad to meet someone he had prosecuted in the past who had turned his life around. Prosecutors can help people expunge their records.
"I have on occasion made phone calls and/or written letters to potential employers and recruiters to explain the circumstances of an arrest," Threet said.
He acknowledged once a person's arrest or conviction has been reported publicly, potential employers have easy access to the information through the Internet.
"Then it becomes a matter of whether an employer feels comfortable that the person will not re-offend if hired," Threet said.
'Very, very hungry'
Mindy Bradley, an associate professor in the University of Arkansas' Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, said studies have shown a person convicted of a crime who hasn't re-offended six years later is no more at risk of committing a crime than someone who has never committed one.
Kevin Murphy, chief deputy director of Arkansas Community Correction, encourages employers to take a chance on someone with a criminal record.
"Some of these guys and gals are very, very hungry," Murphy said.
The unemployment rate of offenders in the state is more than 50 percent, Murphy said, adding there's a direct link between that and the offenders' recidivism rate. In Arkansas, 42 percent of offenders re-offend within three years.
"A lot of them give up and go back to what they know best," Murphy said.
He understands why some people would bristle at the thought of giving "special" consideration to someone with a criminal past.
"But your average Joe, if he doesn't get a job, he's probably not going to go out and commit another crime," Murphy said. "Then you're back to paying someone $62 a day to be in prison. If you can get that guy on the straight and narrow, you're going to save yourselves some tax dollars. That guy is also paying taxes and helping his family."
One thing he'd like to see enacted is a state tax credit for businesses hiring people with a criminal record. A federal tax credit for the same thing has been suspended, he said.
It can't just be government officials working on this kind of thing; employers have to understand what a big issue it is, Crosby said.
"I don't think we're asking for special consideration for these people," she said. "We're just asking for equal consideration."
Dave Perozek can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWADaveP.
NW News on 01/18/2015