These days, a common question on job applications is whether you’ve ever been arrested. But a growing number
of states, including Minnesota and Massachusetts, have adopted laws to remove questions about criminal history from initial job applications. Sponsors of a bill in Olympia hope to add Washington to that list. House Bill 2545 would prevent employers from asking for non-conviction information in initial job applications.
Among the bill’s supporters is Spokane County Superior Court Judge Harold Clarke, who for years presided over drug court and currently serves as the president of the Washington State Association of Drug Court Professionals.