KC: KC may drop liquor permits that bar felons from bartending thanks to ‘ban the box’ (Excerpt)
By Bill Turque
September 18, 2018
For Zach Lampley, a waiter at Nick and Jake’s near the Country Club Plaza, getting an employee liquor permit was one of those time-sucking but unavoidable tasks, like getting a driver’s license.
Lampley, 24, is one of about 10,000 other Kansas City restaurant workers who journey annually to the dreary municipal office off of Independence Avenue to pay a $39 fee and submit to a criminal background check for a city permit to serve alcoholic drinks. Anyone with a violent felony conviction (murder, rape, kidnapping, child molestation) is denied.
Lampley, who has been through other screenings to become a substitute teacher and a retail manager, had no problem getting his card. But he sees the system as antiquated and unfair, especially for the those struggling to get a foothold in the workplace after incarceration.
“It just seems like they’re looking for reasons for people not to progress,” he said. “All it seems to add up to is that people who made mistakes in the past are still punished even after they’ve done their time.”
Critics of the 67-year-old liquor card system contend that it is now more than unfair — it is hypocritical.
Seven months ago, Kansas City Council voted to “ban the box” — shorthand for eliminating the question on employment forms that asks applicants about their criminal history.
The idea was to give ex-offenders a better chance to sell themselves to potential employers by deferring such questions until later in the hiring process.
But, because of the liquor cards, the box lives on in applications for employment in Kansas City’s bars and restaurants.
Owners, most of whom do their own background checks, have tried for years to get the system scrapped.
This time, they might succeed.
Mayor Pro Tem and mayoral candidate Scott Wagner, joined by a majority of the council — including two other contenders, Councilmen Jermaine Reed and Quinton Lucas — are sponsoring an ordinance to drop it.
Earlier this month, the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Advisory Group, made up of industry and community representatives, voted 5-2 in favor of Wagner’s ordinance.
The proposal will be taken up Wednesday by the council’s neighborhoods and public safety committee.
“The reality is that if we’re going to ban the box, making it easier for anyone in any other industry to have a conversation about getting a job, why can’t we allow people to have that same opportunity in the service industry?” Wagner asked.
“The hospitality industry has always been the industry of first opportunity,” said Jason Pryor, owner of Pizza 51 and past president of the Greater Kansas City Restaurant Association. “This is an opportunity for second chances as well.”
The existing law establishes a tiered system of eligibility for ex-offenders. While the most violent felons face a lifetime ban, those with armed robbery or aggravated assault convictions can apply five years after release. For those who sold drugs, there is a three-year exclusion.
All of this would be eliminated if the ordinance passed.