Ban The Box
"Ban the Box," or the Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Law, assists in the successful reintegration into the workforce and housing rental market people with criminal records by removing improper barriers to employment and housing. The law helps to make sure that employers and housing providers make decisions based on relevant work and housing rental qualifications without improperly considering a person’s criminal record. The law does this by restricting when, during the application process, an employer or housing provider can inquire about someone’s criminal history.
Ban the Box Does...
- Require employers and housing providers to remove questions about criminal arrests and convictions from their applications.
- Prevent employers and housing providers from asking about criminal arrests or convictions before extension of a conditional offer is made to the applicant.
- Protect applicants from having criminal background checks done before extension of a conditional offer is made.
- Requires employers and housing providers to provide prior notice to an applicant when rescinding a conditional offer based upon a prior arrest or criminal conviction.
- Provide for enforcement by the Office of Human Rights and the Human Rights Commission.
- Penalize those employers and housing providers that violate the law and may require them to pay a civil penalty up to $1000 for each violation payable to Montgomery County.
Ban the Box Does Not…
- Prevent employers and housing providers from ever asking about the criminal record of an applicant or employee. The law only prohibits an employer or housing provider from asking about an applicant’s criminal record before extension of a conditional offer is made to the applicant.
- Guarantee that a person with a criminal record will get the job or housing.
- Cover Criminal Justice Agencies, such as police, fire, courts, corrections and rehabilitation.
- Prevent any employer or housing provider from doing anything authorized by federal, state, county, or regulation.
- Apply to an employer that provides programs, services, or direct care to minors or vulnerable adults.
- Apply to an employer hiring for a position that requires a federal government security clearance.
- Protect applicants for jobs and housing located outside Montgomery County.
- Apply to employers with fewer than 1 employee.
- Award damages to the complainant.
Ban-the-Box Contacts
James Stowe, Director
Email: James.Stowe@montgomerycountymd.gov
Phone: (240) 777-8450
Loretta Garcia, Office of Human Rights Liaison
Email: Loretta.Garcia@montgomerycountymd.gov
For additional contact information, visit the Contact Us web page.