Ohio AG Advises Employers About Background Checks

The Ohio Attorney General is advising employers about limits to the information the state provides through criminal background checks. The warning follows a new state law that shields information about individuals who have been arrested but not convicted. Steve Raubenolt, deputy superintendent at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, tells The Associated Press new background checks are giving prospective employers peace of mind about someone that they shouldn't have. Beginning this week, the state will include a warning in its completed background checks that the information only includes convictions and guilty pleas, not arrests or charges. Raubenolt says the new law also is requiring hand checks of criminal records that are creating a backlog of reports. That backlog has slowed hiring by the state casino control commission.