MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles has thrown its support behind a new effort to help formerly incarcerated Alabamians receive occupational licenses.
Cam Ward, director of the ABPP, said during a recent meeting of the Alabama Reentry Commission that legislation is being drafted by Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, to prohibit occupational licensing boards from denying an applicant a license based solely on the fact that he or she had been convicted of a crime.
“One issue that we’re pushing at my agency this session is occupational licensure reform, (which) is, in my opinion, absolutely necessary,” Ward said, speaking on just one component of the commission’s goal of reducing recidivism among formerly incarcerated Alabamians. “…The occupational licensure board has the absolute discretion to deny you a license just because you went to prison for any reason.”
Exceptions are included in the proposal, however, preserving the right of boards to deny applicants based on a criminal history relevant to the profession in question.
Ward noted that at the state’s own PREP Rehabilitation Center in Perry County, participating inmates can receive technical training in fields such as tree trimming or cosmetology, training that is designed to secure stable employment for the inmate as they transition out of prison.
“While they haven’t been denying a bunch, the cosmetology board has that legal authority to deny you a license that the state government paid to get, and now you can’t cut hair and do the cosmetology work because of an arbitrary rule,” Ward continued.
“It’s hard to argue why we should have an occupational licensure barrier because you’re not saying employer, you have to hire this person; nobody’s required to hire you, but there shouldn’t be a government rule that blocks you.”
As a former state senator, Ward had sponsored a bill in 2019 that sought to rectify the issue of inmates, after receiving taxpayer-funded job training, being denied licenses in their respective trade due to their criminal history. While that bill was ultimately passed into law, it did not outright prohibit occupational licensing boards from denying licenses based on an applicant’s unrelated criminal history, but rather, provided a pathway for an affected applicant to seek relief through the court system.
The final version of that bill, as explained by Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, who supported the bill at the time, ultimately did not address the issue adequately.
“As that worked its way through the system, (the bill) got watered down and additional barriers were put in between getting certified,” England told Alabama Daily News.
The Alabama Reentry Commission was established in 2021 to reduce recidivism rates for formerly incarcerated Alabamians, but was reauthorized in 2024 as part of the state’s larger effort to cut recidivism in half by 2030.
The legislative session starts Feb. 4.