OKLAHOMA CITY – A state Senate proposal would allow people convicted of nonviolent offenses to work in longterm nursing care if the conviction was more than five years old.
Senate Bill 1511, authored by Sen. Jessica Garvin (R-Duncan) would reduce the amount of time from seven years to five years for employers conducting criminal background searches of potential employees. Some of the nonviolent offenses include burglary, pandering, petty larceny or shoplifting.
“We have critical workforce shortages in heath occupations. This bill aligns Oklahoma’s laws regarding the look back on nonviolent offenses with the states in our region. It also allows long-term care facilities to participate in being second chance employers, helping solve some of the workforce issues they are facing,” Garvin wrote in a statement.
This bill was approved by the state House and Senate on two previous occasions before being vetoed by Gov. Kevin Stitt.
SB 1511 also closes loopholes for minors who were convicted of sex crimes from working in long-term care facilities. In addition, the bill adds a human trafficking conviction as a reason someone could not work in a long-term health care environment. Current law lists several violent felonies as reasons someone could not work in those type of jobs.
“This list is extremely outdated so human trafficking has never been recognized as a crime that prevents someone from these vital health careers,” Garvin said.
SB 1511 passed the Senate Health and Human Services committee by an 11-0 vote. The bill now heads to the full Senate for consideration.