Strengths

• Strong protections for due process.
• Blocks boards from considering arrests that did not result in a conviction as well as sealed and expunged records.
• Requires boards to evaluate multiple mitigating factors (including evidence of rehabilitation) when considering licensing applications.

Areas of Improvement

• Close the “moral turpitude” loophole. 
• Extend state’s protections to include jobs in education and private security.

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Updated April 2021

Thanks to a series of reforms enacted in 2018, 2019, and 2021, Arizona now has some of the better laws in the country for ex-offenders seeking licenses to work, earning a B for its final grade. The state rates highly on Relevance and Due Process, but a relatively poor Exclusion score brings its final grade down.

Unfortunately, Arizona’s robust reform does not apply to jobs in education and private security. Those exclusions can trigger draconian consequences for people with criminal records. For instance, security guards can be denied a license on the basis of any felony, while a marijuana possession misdemeanor can disqualify applicants for education positions. 

In addition, the 2021 reform codified a new loophole, which expressly allows boards to disqualify applicants on the basis of “offenses involving moral turpitude,” even if those crimes are not related to the license sought. In Arizona, moral turpitude involves any misdemeanor or felony related to bribery, burglary, embezzlement, forgery, fraud, larceny, money laundering, murder, racketeering, robbery, voluntary manslaughter, or any crime that requires registration as a sex offender. 

Statute: Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 1-215-24, Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 41-1093.04 (2019)