Employment beyond arrest for possession

[axisdenied]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Idaho

Hello FreeAdvice Legal Forum! I am looking for the opinion of a legal professional, preferably one who understands the general stigma associated with gainful employment pending the review of a criminal history (technically, an arrest record), in the state of Idaho by state agencies (candidates for Idaho gov't positions). Here we go -

Five years back, during college, I was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana. The charge was dismissed after withheld judgment under I.C. 19-2604. At the time I was informed by my legal professional that this constituted something of an expunction. However, I've realized in the past few days that an official shred of the record occurs only under a different code, I.C. 67-3004 (and, really, who actually knows how much such a pursuit cleans the record considering every agency who is informed of the original?) Anyway, the charge had nil to do with my employment at the time -the incident occurred after a friend was pulled over at night, the cop smelt pot on my driver, and we were both charged after a discovery of a small amount of marijuana in the car (I realize this is probably more than you need to know).

So, here is the short form of the circumstance -withheld judgment, dismissed after six months with satisfactory completion of unsupervised probation, no consequences for my federal aid and since I have earned a master's degree in my discipline. I applied for a state job that I am very qualified to do which does NOT involve direct contact with vulnerable individuals or the handling of money. Oh yeah, I have been gainfully employed ever since -kept the job I held at the time without consequence. I am also doing some filler work for a new outfit post-graduation.

Altogether I have no break in employment, no further legal problems, a verifiable record of achievement, decent references and no recent drug use. The only raise for concern here is the fact that the application explicitly asked if I'd ever had a withheld judgment and, since my record is not technically expunged, I had to disclose it. So, does my honesty win here? I mean, let's say that hypothetically speaking I am the most qualified (experience/education-wise) for the position. EEOC says I can't be denied employment under such a circumstance if it has nothing to do with my job responsibilities. Regardless, what do you think? I'd like to know!

Thank you,
a

 

[pattytx]

Hello FreeAdvice Legal Forum! I am looking for the opinion of a legal professional, preferably one who understands the general stigma associated with gainful employment pending the review of a criminal history (technically, an arrest record), in the state of Idaho by state agencies (candidates for Idaho gov't positions). Here we go -

Picky, aren't you? Especially since you're asking for FREE advice.

Seeing as we don't have any Idaho employment law attorneys at all (to my knowledge) let alone those with experience in Idaho state government issues, I'm guessing you will not get any responses past this one. (It's questionable how many of those attorneys there are in the total state, anyway.) Why should we waste our time?

 

[axisdenied]

Thank you for your response. With all due respect, if you aren't interested in offering free advice, why are you here? Yes, it's a free forum -that means it's here for me too.

 

[pattytx]

Free means you don't have to pay. Free does not mean you get to pick and choose who responds.

And, strangely enough, you are seeing that so far, no one has. Wonder why that is?

 

[axisdenied]

Ah, I apologize and certainly didn't mean any disrespect. Please disregard the preference for who responds at the beginning of my post and consider this one directed to all legal professionals within the forum.

 

[commentator]

I'm no Idaho attorney, but I have had lots of experience with state government hiring and firing. And most all state jobs (yep, Idaho is state civil service too, just checked!) are civil service jobs. Is there a test involved on the job you are applying for, or is there a civil service score given to each applicant based on the application? If so, then you would receive a score which positions you for the job, and the top so many of the candidates on a register will be interviewed. Veterans and vet spouses in some cases receive lots of extra points.

And probably, with this many loops and turns in the application process, you would be very very hard pressed to prove that the reason you particularly were not hired was based on your past record. Or to even figure it out yourself.

Frankly, in each and every state I've dealt with, and each and every job I've dealt with at the state level, it wouldn't matter if you were a recently released major sex offender, if your uncle __________ (insert here the name of the governor of Idaho) wanted you to have the job, you'd get the job.

Applying for state jobs is very different from applying for jobs in private industry. Though it might be different in Idaho.

 

[pattytx]

Ah, I apologize and certainly didn't mean any disrespect. Please disregard the preference for who responds at the beginning of my post and consider this one directed to all legal professionals within the forum.

Apology accepted. See what an apology can do?

 

[axisdenied]

Commentator -thank you for your response! And, pattytx, thank you for mediating my request. Again, all apologies on my part for the miscommunication.

C ~ Indeed, there was an exam for this position. The exams for these state positions are job-specific and do not ask about criminal history, veterans' preference, etc. They supposedly rate personal qualifications of experience/education for the task at hand -my score is still in review. The FAQ tells me that the top ten scores are placed on a hiring list.

The state application, though, is the same for all positions as it is part of a personal profile in division of human resources' personal account listing. This is the portion that rates veterans preference and disclosed criminal conduct, but I am honestly unsure of how this figures into the exam total. For the purpose of helping those in my position, I will report back with my opinion on the matter after I receive my score.

Nepotism does reign supreme around these parts, at least in the private sector. My hope for this one is that since the position requires a specific skill set that *should* make the hiring list fairly exclusive, my arrest record would be given the proper consideration. Sounds like I'll need to call Uncle Butch on that one.

Seriously, thank you for your help. I think my best course of action will be to submit a request to have my record expunged as it complies with the requirements of the Idaho code for that relief. So, one last question -is it advisable to seek legal aid for this? The only thing stated on the BCI website is that I'd need to furnish a copy of my record and a written request showing compliance.

Peace!
a