Gwinnett County lawmaker says Georgia’s arrest record prevents minorities from getting jobs

A Gwinnett County lawmaker told Channel 2 Action News Georgia’s arrest record system is preventing many poor and black and brown people from getting jobs.

Channel 2′S Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson spoke to the lawmaker who said the system needs to change.

Representative Gregg Kennard introduced a bill for those who have been arrested but never charged and sometimes never even convicted but still have criminal records.

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His concern is how this affects black and brown communities who are disproportionally arrested.

The lawmaker and Gwinnett County pastor said he sees too many poor people and people of color are unable to work because of their arrest only criminal records.

“Of course these kind of measures impact people of color more acutely,” he said.

When someone is arrested there’s a record of that that stays with them even if they’re never charged by prosecutor.

If their case is dismissed in court Kennard said their record isn’t always restricted like it should be.

HB 171 is a bill Kennard introduced this session to change that.

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“Once charges are brought it becomes public record, but if it results in a non-conviction it is automatically restricted and sealed and cannot be seen,” he said.

The Georgia justice project says there are four and a half million people with a criminal record in Georgia.

“Half of those folks actually don’t have any conviction history. So that’s multiple million people in this state, who have a criminal record despite never having been found guilty of anything,” Wade Askew, Georgia Justice Project Policy Manager said.

Askew believes one problem is employers and housing providers don’t always give people a chance to respond.

Police officers would still have access to full arrest records. The bill is still awaiting committee hearings before being up for a potential vote.

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